Helsinki City Theatre returns home and opens its doors to the public in August
Helsinki City Theatre will start the autumn season in a grandly renovated theatre building celebrating its 50th anniversary. The autumn premieres include Lasse Mårtenson’s Maija from Myrskyluoto, Pippi Longstocking, which returns to the repertoire at the request of the audience, and Mannerheim and the German Kiss on the big stage, which explores Juha Vakkuri’s recent history. On the small stage, Maria Jotun’s The Golden Calf and the stage delight Hansu ja Pirre – Mieleni minun tekevi will be performed. The farcical comedy The Hitman’s Nightmare opens the season on the Arena stage and Enigmatic Variations, a collaboration between five theatres, opens the season at Studio Pasila. Lilla Teatern’s novelties are Det ordnar sig, Sapiens!, which renews the revue genre, and the magic show Robert Jägerhorn – For real?.
The opening ceremony of the renovated theatre building will be celebrated with Maija of Myrskyluoto on 24 August. The grand musical, composed by Lasse Mårtenson , celebrates not only the 50th anniversary of the theatre house, but also the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence and the 110th anniversary of the Helsinki City Theatre. Based on Anni Blomqvist’s series of novels, the musical, dramatised by Seppo Parkkinen , lyrics by Maija Vilkkumaa and directed by Kari Rentola , stars Laura Alajääski and Aaro Wichmann as the main couple.
The hit of the spring 2015 before the renovation of the theatre, Pippi Longstocking , a great favourite for the whole family, will return to the big stage from 13 September onwards. As usual, the role of Pippi is alternated between Anna-Riikka Rajanen and Maija Koivisto.
Juha Vakkuri’s intense historical play Mannerheim and the German Kiss opens up new perspectives on the real years of danger in Finland’s history and the country’s permanent dependencies on two great powers. At the same time, the play draws a fresh and humane full-body picture of Finland’s first great man, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, who saved his country twice.
The intense play, which premieres on the big stage on 25 October, is directed by Kari Heiskanen. The role of Mannerheim will be played by the long-time theatre director of the Helsinki City Theatre, actor Asko Sarkola, who retired at the beginning of the year. The other roles are played by Helena Haaranen, Kirsi Karlenius, Kari Mattila, Unto Nuora, Matti Olavi Ranin, Tommi Rantamäki, Matti Rasila, Eero Saarinen, Pertti Sveholm, Antti Timonen and Kaisa Torkkel.
Matters of morality and purse are the subject of Maria Jotun’s timeless comedy classic The Golden Calf, which will premiere on a small stage directed by Heidi Räsänen on 31 August.
The play tells the story of people who start speculating in the midst of the unstable conditions and deprivation of the First World War, who are blinded by the dream of getting rich quickly and the security it brings. Of the two daughters of the family of photographer Ahlroos, who lives in poverty, Lahja is still unmarried, and Eedit is married to the honest businessman Jaakko, but like her mother, she begins to dream of riches and a wider life. Who wins, money or love?
The cast includes Rauno Ahonen, Heidi Herala, Sanna-June Hyde, Petrus Kähkönen, Tuukka Leppänen, Vappu Nalbantoglu, Helmi-Leena Nummela, Jari Pehkonen, Ursula Salo and Aino Seppo.
The popular series of the 1980s, Fakta hommasta and later known from gig venues around Finland, the comedy’s brisk breed women Hansu and Pirre, will also be seen on the theatre stage next autumn. The national epic stage work Hansu ja Pirre – Mieleni minun tekevi will premiere on 21 September on the small stage.
The venue is, of course, Loimaa and the starting point is the founding ceremony of a new art museum to be established on the former morgue. Through Hansu’s (Riitta Havukainen) and Pirre’s (Eija Vilpas) own experiences and pain points, the work goes through everyday things, the birth of the world, love, nature and the cosmos.
The season on the Arena stage opens with Mika Eirtovaara’s The Hired Killer’s Nightmare on 6 September. The farcical comedy by French director Francis Veber tells the story of two men who stay in adjacent hotel rooms. One is a professional killer and the other is a self-destructive photographer abandoned by his wife. The work of the homicide professional is disturbed not only by a resident in the next room who is contemplating suicide, but also by a motley crew of hotel staff, a doctor, an ex-wife and a police officer, who accelerate the events towards the unbridled climax of an extremely entertaining farce. The cast includes Iikka Forss, Santeri Kinnunen, Jouko Klemettilä, Antti Peltola and Sanna Saarijärvi.
The encounter between two men is also the subject of Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt’s play Enigmatic Variations , which premieres at Studio Pasila on 30 August. The play, which is produced in cooperation with Hämeenlinna Theatre, Kuopio City Theatre, Logomo Theatre and Riihimäki Theatre, is directed by Sakari Kirjavainen, and its roles are played by Heikki Kinnunen and Ilkka Heiskanen, who return to the stage of the City Theatre.
A reluctant Nobel Prize winner meets a persistent journalist and the secrets of the past begin to be revealed in a surprising way. On the surface, the self-confident Nobel laureate and the fearful journalist are an unequal couple, but as the evening progresses, it turns out that they have both loved the same woman. The men’s notions of lies, truth, love, and death collide, and a mysterious woman unites and separates them.
Lilla Teatern’s autumn will be filled with revue and magic. Written and directed by Marina Meinander and Kirsi Porkka , Det ordnar sig, Sapiens! will premiere on 14 September. The composer is Sofia Finnilä and the lyrics are written by Henrik Huldén. The cast includes Sanna Majuri, Pia Runnakko, Sampo Sarkola, Christoffer Strandberg, Joachim Wigelius and Linda Zilliacus.
Internationally acclaimed top magician Robert Jägerhorn returns to Lillan with a brand new performance Robert Jägerhorn – på riktigt? , which premieres on October 5 at Lilla Teatern. The performance, which combines virtuoso magic, storytelling and situational comedy, is directed by Markus Zink.
HKT’s autumn season programme continues with the ever-popular Stones in Your Pocket, the traditional stand-up club Club act!one and Kari Hotakainen’s Servant, written for Martti Suosalo by Kari Hotakainen, which will move from the Arena stage to Pasila. Lilla Teatern’s repertoire continues with the relationship comedy Mieletön metodi and Jeanette Björkqvist’s Mammas flicka.
Read the new Teatteriin magazine here.
Next premieres at the Helsinki City Theatre:
Mommy’s Girl 6.4.2017 Lilla Teaternissa, dir. Cris af Enehielm
Prospero 16.5.2017 studio in Pasila, dir. Maksim Komaro
Maija of Myrskyluoto 24.8.2017 on the big stage, dir. Kari Rentola
Enigmatic Variations 30.8.2017 studio in Pasila, dir. Sakari Kirjavainen
The Golden Calf 31.8.2017 on a small stage, dir. Heidi Räsänen
The Assassin’s Nightmare 6.9.2017 on the Arena Stage, dir. Mika Eirtovaara
Pippi Longstocking 13.9.2017 on the big stage, dir. Milko Lehto
It’s going to be okay, Sapiens! 14.9.2017 Lilla Teaternissa, dir. Marina Meinander, Kirsi Porkka
Hansu and Pirre – My Mind Made 21.9.2017 on a small stage
Robert Jägerhorn – for real? 5.10.2017 Lilla Teaternissa, dir. Markus Zink
Mannerheim and the German Kiss 25.10.2017 on the big stage, dir. Kari Heiskanen
Guest performances:
Özz Nûjen is Richard III 28.4.2017 Lilla Teaternissa