I chose you to renew the stage of family photography
Helsinki City Theatre’s new Finnish play I Chose You depicts in a fresh and perceptive way the arc of a relationship from falling in love with the oatmeal-flavoured everyday life of a rainbow family. The play is based on Laura Lehtola’s novel of the same name (2020), which she has dramatised into a play together with director Milja Sarkola. The premiere is on September 22 on a small stage.
Hoas’ shared apartment brings together two very different young women, Elisa, a low-key business student who has moved from the countryside to the city, and Saara, a bohemian student of literary studies. Contrary to expectations, the women fall in love with each other, and twelve years later they have a young son and a mortgage. Then Saara falls in love again.
“In Helsinki in the early 2000s, Saara and Elisa have to think about what others think of their relationship. As the years go by, the pressure from the outside also eases. Lehtola’s book describes rainbow everyday life in a straightforward and recognizable way, pioneering destinies at a social turning point,” says director Milja Sarkola. “The attitude atmosphere has changed very quickly in a very short time. The story of Saara and Elisa brings to the stage the shame mechanisms of recent history, how time moves us.”
"It has been a unique opportunity to dramatize the novel for the stage together with Milja. In the end, Milja’s deep theatre professionalism, the story, characters and language, as well as both of their own histories with the themes discussed in the book, are intertwined with the shared documentary, which is shared on an online discuss," says author Laura Lehtola.
The main couple of the play is Wenla Reimaluoto (Saara) and Misa Lommi (Elisa) and the other roles are played by Vappu Nalbantoglu, Pyry Nikkilä, Unto Nuora, Hanna Raiskinmäki and Kaisa Torkkel.
The set design of the play I Chose You , which utilises cinematic narration, was designed by K. Rasila and costumes by Emilia Eriksson. Aleksi Saura is responsible for sound design and composition, Kari Leppälä for lighting design and Tuula Kuittinen for camouflage.
Milja Sarkola (b. 1975) is an award-winning playwright and theatre director. His plays include Something Else – The Stage of Personal Desire, Allt som sägs and Family Member, which Sarkola also directed, and which won the Thalia Prize in 2012. Her debut novel Kapitalni was published in 2020 and its play version premiered at Q-teatteri (2020). At the Helsinki City Theatre, he has previously directed the plays Brevet från Siberien (2007), Letter from Siberia (2010), I taket lyser stjärnorna (2012), En blick är en blick är en blick (2019) and Bolla (2021).
Laura Lehtola (b. 1978) is a Helsinki-based author, Doctor of Science (Technology) and management consultant. I Chose You (Otava 2020) is Lehtola’s third novel. Lehtola’s debut novel Hirmujän paika (Otava 2015) was nominated for a literature prize by Helsingin Sanomat. The play, dramatised from Lehtola’s second novel Takapenkki (2017, Otava), premiered at the Jyväskylä Room Theatre in 2019.
Read Milja Sarkola’s interview on the theatre’s website: Perspectives on minority everyday life.
I Chose You premiere on 22.9.2022 on the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre (Eläintarhantie 5)
Tickets: student ticket 19,50 € (Mon-Thu), pensioner ticket 36 € (Mon-Thu), basic ticket 39 €
Helsinki City Theatre’s ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 394022 Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Ticket offices First line 2, Mon-Fri 11 am – 5.30 pm, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (performance days) 11 am – 6 pm and one hour before the performance and Lippupiste Mon-Sat 9 am – 9 pm, Sun 10 am – 6 pm, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge) www.hkti.fi
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Press photos can be found in the image bank and press releases in the newsroom.
Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests:
Kaisa Pelkonen, Communications Manager , kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788
Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki