Making a performance is a network where every thread is completely fatally meaningful. Each member of the working group, both on stage and off stage, brings a contribution to the end result, without which the performance as it is finally realized before our eyes would not be possible, and the performance would be different if it were made by other people. And this is the greatest beauty of theatre making; to create something
together, to play the same game
together for a few months.
This writing goes by the name “the director’s word”. I want to use this word to emphasize the fact that the Ape army work you have seen is the result of joint work, with everything. As a director, I have made sure that the work is completed by the deadline, but there is no way I would have been able to do it without the contribution of the rest of the team. That is, extending from very concrete material things (what the performance looks like as a whole) to the immaterial nature of ideas, thoughts and inventions. As an instructor, I have a vision at the beginning of the rehearsals of what we are aiming for, what kind of performance we are going to make, but as a rule, when the top professionals in each area of the working group take up my flimsy ideas, they change shape, become clearer, more beautiful. In a word, they find their shape and get better. And this is what the final presentation consists of.
In other words, the power of the masses is playing roulette, so to speak! Especially when it comes to making a theatre performance. As a facilitator, I think of my position as a facilitator, whose pleasant task is to choose the best from good ideas. I always want to emphasize that many brains think more broadly and better than just one. That’s why there’s no point in sticking to one brain. It makes sense to work together, to let everyone’s opinions and ideas flourish. When children play, everyone brings their own world to the game, and the final play is the fusion of those worlds. Making theatre is basically a game, creating a common world. Of course, ambitious play aimed at the best possible outcome, sometimes very serious, but still – play. The game called Ape army has been a huge pleasure to play. Together!
This work looks exactly what it looks like because it was made by these people. Maybe someday you’ll see a different, very different Ape army , and that’s a good thing. Now this one is opening up in front of your eyes, which at least I as a director can say I am proud of. Thank you to everyone involved!
Helsinki, 25 September 2023
Tuomas Rinta-Panttila