Aleksi Suomesta
Note: No longer in repertoire!
Aleksi Suomesta is the true story of Finnish professional soldier Aleksi Lysander (1989–2024). The play was adapted by Ari-Pekka Lahti from Tuomas Kyrö’s book of the same name (WSOY, 2023), which was also nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Non-fiction.
The son of a Finnish mother and a Senegalese father, Aleksi spends his childhood on his grandparents’ farm in Oulu. Determined to become a soldier, he joins the French Foreign Legion at the age of 18. He serves in Afghanistan and several African countries. In 2022, he is among the first volunteers to leave for Ukraine. He later returns to Finland, but heads back to Ukraine in autumn 2024, where he dies in the final days of the year.
The play was developed in collaboration with Aleksi Lysander. His wish was for the production to go ahead and offer as honest a portrayal as possible of the scars left by war—and of why war is never the right solution.
“Aleksi Suomesta is a production unlike anything you are likely to have seen before—or will ever see again.”
Helsingin Sanomat 11.10.2025
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