Honesty inherits the earth or does it?

Dear Evan Hansen Musical Director’s Word

I’m sure we’ve all had moments in our lives where we’ve had to leave something unsaid or we’ve had to resort to so-called “untold things”. white lie. But when is a lie white? When is lying allowed? Does the end justify the means?

The protagonist of our musical, Evan Hansen, finds himself in a situation where he does not dare to tell the truth. The fear of correcting the misunderstanding that has arisen drives him into a spiral of lies from which there seems to be no way out. He realizes that he is doing something wrong himself, but he wants to convince himself that he can consider his actions justified because he can help others with his lies.

Like a person who actively follows today’s phenomena, I also asked my question to artificial intelligence: Is lying sometimes allowed?

And this is how AI answered:

Lying can be seen as permissible in certain situations, but these situations can vary between cultures and individuals. Below are some examples of situations in which some may consider lying to be justified:

1. Protection: If lying helps protect another person’s physical or mental well-being. For example, you can lie if it helps protect the safety of your friend or family member.

2. Privacy: When it is necessary to protect your own privacy or the privacy of others, such as when you refuse to answer personal questions.

3. Surprises: If lying is related to planning surprises, such as keeping birthday gifts secret.

4. Play and art: Fictional writing, acting, and visual arts may be based on lies, but they are often seen as acceptable creative forms of expression.

However, it is important to note that while lying in these situations may be understandable, it does not mean that it is ethically unproblematic. Honesty and openness in general promote healthy relationships and strengthen trust. All in all, it is good to think carefully about when lying may be justified and when honesty would be a better option.

As theatre makers, we are free to create worlds and stories that don’t really exist. We create fiction, i.e. lies that we want the viewers to believe. We, the creators, must also believe in these lies – and lie with complete credibility.

In the theatre, lying is just a game, but in real life, lying can have fatal consequences.

Kari Arffman

Steven Levenson as Benj Pasek as Justin Paul

Rakas Evan Hansen

A musical full of hope

The big stage
Ensi-ilta 28.9.2023
Approx. 2 h 45 min, incl. intermission
Age recommendation from 13 years old
Student ticket 34 € (Mon-Thu), Pensioner ticket 65 € (Mon-Thu), Basic ticket 68 €

Taustaa

Tensions without eruptions

From the conductor of the musicalWhen I think back to my life on the threshold of adulthood, two feelings come to mind: constant uncertainty and perceiving the realities of life. These two things, uncertainty and the inevitability of reality, are also suitable to describe the music and orchestration of Dear Evan Hansen. While the fragile tremolo sound of the electric guitar echoes a fumbling, constant living in a lie, in the same musical number, the very next movement, the rooty tom beat of the drum kit inexorably rolls the events forward. The beloved music of Evan Hansen is composed for eight actors and eight musicians. As in many modern musicals, almost everything to be sung is high and requires rhythmic precision. The orchestration has two compatible blocks: percussion (drums and piano) and stringed instruments (strings and guitars). The strings (violin, viola, cello and double bass) resonate with humanity, empathy and motherly love throughout the score. The guitars (acoustic guitar, electric guitar and bass guitar) depict youthful enthusiasm and love, as well as a pure, fresh desire to feel emotions for the first time. What is left for the percussion, piano and drum kit to do? Perhaps they are an unavoidable danger of the passage of time or a symbol of the insanely fast flow of information in the modern digital age? Maybe they just create pressure fluctuations. One of the characteristic features of Beloved Evan Hansen's music is the indestructibility of its harmonies. The so-called arresting chords, the "normal" tense of which would be to be broken down into either major or minor, are left unresolved in many of the songs of this musical. I wonder what the composers of the work want to tell with these choices. Why don't composers carry harmonies "to the end"? I wonder if it's easier to skip the obvious major and minor solutions, because the protagonist Evan can't always identify right or wrong?Either way, for a conductor and music interpreter in general, the most important thing is to analyse and question, not necessarily to find one and only solution. However, the music is there and the performance instructions are easy to follow. As a conductor, I always try to look for the composer's and orchestrator's choices. I feel that my task is to serve the authors of the book as organically as possible. In a way that I imagine the viewer wants to get close to the story we are telling. Organically, effortlessly and closely. Eeva Kontu, conductor

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Something new, something borrowed and something blue

Starting points for set design

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Interview with the main actors

Dear Evan Hansen (2015) is an internationally popular musical that focuses on an anxious and lonely high school boy named Evan Hansen. At the Helsinki City Theatre, the role of Evan is alternated between Petja Pulkkinen and Julius Suominen.

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