A compact combination of three
Only the best for me is presented in one evening by three interesting Finnish authors and three new plays.
Sofi Oksanen’s miniature play I Love You Already Willhave its premiere in 2017 at the Burg Theatre in Vienna, along with four other new European plays. Now Oksanen’s play, which is being performed for the first time in Finland, will be joined by two new miniature plays: Elina Snicker’s Crying for a Stranger and Maija Vilkkumaa’s Sea Weather. The ensemble is directed by Aino Kivi, who is known not only as a director but also as a writer, who is visiting the City Theatre for the first time.
What kind of challenge is it to direct a set of three plays?
“Wonderful challenge! At first reading I thought that the texts are completely different, but little by little I have started to see more similarity and the texts have started to ‘talk’ to each other. The plays actually deal with quite similar topics, but from different perspectives. The challenge has mainly been how to make the works deepen each other, to be as if they were different parts of the same symphony,” says director Aino Kivi.
Even though these are three different plays, the director finds a lot of similarities behind the stories.
“The genres of the plays vary from one end to the other, but each work has the same themes. They include living a life that looks like you, but on the other hand, selfishness, inequality, motherhood, and what kind of world our children live in and what we demand of them.”
The traditional repertoire of the theatre includes dramas, comedies, tragedies and musicals. However, it is rare to see three plays in one sitting.
“Friends of new Finnish drama are really pampered here. Now you can see three new plays in one evening! The texts deal with very topical topics, and the characters are recognizable. They are funny and touching at the same time. Personally, I believe that the fact that the works are in such a concise form is also quite a nice thing for the viewer. I used to be able to sit in four-hour performances, but as a person with such a family, I appreciate compactness.”
Aino Kivi has directed and dramatised Sofi Oksanen’s premiere of Stalin’s Cows in 2018 and directed Elina Snicker’s Harmony Sisters 2016 at the Joensuu City Theatre. He has read the works of both in their entirety.
“I know Maija through her music and songs, which have always thrilled me. Maija has a great ability to tell big stories and interesting human destinies in a small space. He has an absolutely incredible imagination! And he has also composed one song for the performance.”
The actors, on the other hand, were not familiar to the director before. Kivi thinks that there is a great group of people together, and he was looking forward to working with them throughout the spring. Now an exciting and busy autumn is ahead, as the performances on the small stage begin.
“We will certainly have fun, but also emotional. The lyrics take you to funny and surprising worlds and, on the other hand, to deep waters.”
Text Kaisa Pelkonen