Award-winning monologue with transtema gets a Swedish premiere / Award-winning trans-themed monologue has its Swedish premiere
The Monologue of the Year 2020 The Life That Has Become Me Given (Kepeä elämäni) will have its Swedish premiere at Lilla Teatern on 12 December. In the performance, actor Miiko Toiviainen gives a unique and uplifting insight into identity and acceptance on the theme of trance.
The life that has been given to me is a story about daring to turn one’s life around. Through theatre, poetry and song, it describes how challenges are turned into personal strength, new light and new happiness in life. The play premiered at the Poetry Week in Kajaani in 2019 and has since toured to sold-out auditoriums around Finland and is now being performed for the first time in Swedish translation at Lilla Teatern.
The play has been praised as a bottomlessly important but playful story, and during the year, Toiviainen and the performance have been able to tick off the awards for Theatre Actor of the Year and Monologue of the Year 2020, among others. Miiko has also been engaged as a consultant on transgender issues, for example by the Finnish National Theatre in connection with the uproar surrounding the performance Alla äitistäni.
The script is written by Miiko Toiviainen, director Riikka Oksanen and dramaturg Aino Pennanen. The translation from the original Finnish text was made by Panda Eriksson and Tobias Zilliacus. Eeva Kontu is a composer and sound designer, Sofia Palillo is responsible for visual design and Mikko Renfors is responsible for music production.
Jakobstad-born Miiko Toiviainen graduated from the Theatre Academy in 2018 and has worked at b.la Helsinki City Theatre, Teatteri Takomo and the NAMT musical festival in New York. Miiko is a member of the improvisational theatre group Stella Polaris and is currently making a success as the Master of Ceremonies in Cabaret at the Turku City Theatre.
The life that has been given to me has been supported by Föreningen Konstsamfundet, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.
The Life That Has Been Given to Me, 12 and 14.12 at Lilla Teatern, Yrjönkatu 30, Helsinki
Further information, interview requests and press tickets:
Miiko Toiviainen / Actor, screenwriter / miiko.toiviainen@gmail.com / 050-544 3693
Communications Officer Ida Virkkunen / Lilla Teatern / ida.virkkunen@lillateatern.fi / 050-357 4250
The award-winning trans-themed monologue will have its Swedish premiere at Lilla Teatern
The Monologue of the Year 2020, Miiko Toiviainen’s My Light Life, will have its Swedish premiere at Lilla Teatern on 12 December. In the performance, Toiviainen opens up a positive perspective on trans humanity.
Through theatre, poetry and songs, Det liv som bli mig givet tells how a trans background has turned into a resource and a source of happiness. The premiere of the performance was in Kajaani during the Poetry Week 2019, and since then, the performance has toured to sold-out halls around Finland. In December, the monologue will have its Swedish premiere at Lilla Teatern.
The performance has been called endlessly important, but playful, and Toiviainen has been awarded the theatre actor of the year and the performance as the monologue of the year. Miiko has also been consulted on trans issues, for example. In connection with the uproar caused by the Finnish National Theatre’s performance of All About My Mother.
Miiko Toiviainen is responsible for the script together with director Riikka Oksanen and dramaturg Aino Pennanen. Panda Eriksson and Tobias Zilliacus have translated the Finnish text into Swedish. Eeva Kontu is responsible for the composition and sound design, Sofia Palillo for the visual design and Mikko Renfors for the music production.
Miiko Toiviainen graduated from the Theatre Academy in 2018 and has acted at the Helsinki City Theatre, Teatteri Takomo and the NAMT musical festival in New York, among others. Miiko is a member of the improvisation theatre Stella Polaris, and he is currently captivating in the role of the Master of Ceremonies in the musical Cabaret at the Turku City Theatre.
The performance has been supported by Föreningen Konstsamfundet, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation and the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.
The life that has been given to me, 12. yes 14.12. Lilla Teatern, Yrjönkatu 30, Helsinki.
The performance is in Swedish.
Further information, interview requests and press tickets:
Miiko Toiviainen / actor, screenwriter / miiko.toiviainen@gmail.com / 050-544 3693
Communications Officer Ida Virkkunen / Lilla Teatern / ida.virkkunen@lillateatern.fi / 050-357 4250