The first Master’s thesis on the stage of contemporary performance has been published
Hakkarainen, who graduated from the University of Helsinki’s Theatre Studies, evaluates the artistic and economic aspects of the stage in Contemporary Performance and considers what kind of capital the stage produces for the artists who participated in it and for the Helsinki City Theatre.
Nelly Hakkarainen’s master’s thesis “A bridge between the independent field of performing arts and institutional theatre? – Helsinki City Theatre’s Stage for a Contemporary Performance Creating New Kinds of Structures” has been published.
The qualitative study examines the Stage of Contemporary Performance (2022–2023) as a new kind of production model in the collaboration between the independent field of performing arts and institutional theatre. The study was carried out by interviewing the employees and artists of the Contemporary Performance Stage. Through the case example of the stage, Hakkarainen also discusses the broader cultural policy debate on the unequal distribution of resources in the field of performing arts in Finland.
Hakkarainen’s conclusions in the thesis are that the City Theatre has increased its symbolic capital with its Stage of Contemporary Performance project by extending its repertoire to the so-called limited production side. In addition, he estimates that in addition to a new kind of repertoire, the stage has brought a professional audience to the theatre and increased the appreciation of the theatre in the eyes of independent operators. The visibility offered by the theatre has also brought symbolic capital to the artists involved.
“Perhaps the biggest challenge in writing the thesis was how to verbalise the present moment and the structure that is just beginning to take shape – as theatre studies often focus on the interpretation of history or an artistic entity that can be examined from a distance. In my thesis, I try to deal with the topic from my own ‘eyewitness’ position. My work period on the stage of the Contemporary Performance in the spring of 2023 was useful in understanding both operating models and the roles of different people,” says Hakkarainen.
The thesis is available free of charge in the University of Helsinki’s open publication archive Helda: A bridge between the free field of performing arts and institutional theatre? : The stage of the Helsinki City Theatre’s Contemporary Performance Creating New Kinds of Structures (helsinki.fi)