Nano puppets and unresolved discussion at Studio Pasila in August – Helsinki City Theatre’s Contemporary Performance stage premieres open the season

The Trial & Theatre team’s Nano Steps was born out of the question: what could be the smallest theatre puppet in the world? The question started a research process that took the team through the laboratories of Cornell University, the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Aalto University to the Helsinki City Theatre’s studio Pasila. The end result is a wordless presentation that tells about the strange bilateral relationship between the scientist and the research subject across scales and sensory boundaries. What happens when a physicist collides with particles invisible to the human eye at a point of light under a microscope?

“We noticed that the micromanipulation of physicists is in itself a wonderful piece of puppetry. Through our performers the size of a human cell, we bring performance art to the stage on an unprecedented scale, new movement language and new manipulation techniques,” says Aati Hanikka, director of Nano Steps.

Dilemma, directed by MasiTiita, is a performance about discussion, indecision and the difficulty of making choices. A chance encounter between friends, or perhaps lovers, or two people who only know each other only remotely, starts a subtle dialogue that reflects on life’s big and small choices. During the performance, the discussion flows through various topics, goes in circles, breaks, stagnates and drifts again and again towards questions that remain unresolved. The dialogue on stage will be performed by actors KreetaSalminen and Samuli Niittymäki.

“I wanted to make a work that challenges notions of what a good conversation or a successful encounter is like. What kind of comedy, but also beauty and sensitivity, are included in everyday encounters? The dilemma invites the viewer to linger on the dialogue to reflect on the possibilities of being different,” says Tiitta.

The stage of a contemporary performance

The stage of the Helsinki City Theatre’s Contemporary Performance brings various forms of contemporary performance into the theatre’s repertoire, increases job opportunities for independent artists and develops cooperation in the performing arts. The year 2023 will be the last of the pilot project, and from 2024 onwards, the stage will continue as part of the seasonal programme of the City Theatre and Studio Pasila.

The stage’s activities are divided into a visiting stage and premieres and stage residencies aimed at preparing them. The visiting stage will take place in May, the residency work in June-July, and the premieres of the works produced at the residency will take place in August.

The stage design and repertoire of the contemporary performance are the responsibility of a three-person curatorial team, consisting of performance artist and dancer SuviTuominen, director, doctoral researcher Tuomas Laitinen and curator RiikkaThitz. At the City Theatre, the project is coordinated by Antti Lahti.

The stage of the contemporary performance was created from an appeal by artists working in the independent field of performing arts. The Helsinki City Theatre accepted the challenge of the free field and aims to develop a new kind of production framework for the field in the form of a pilot project, which could contribute to changing the structures that create inequality and slow down the development of the arts. The purpose of the project is to provide an example and share experiences with other theatres funded by VOS.

The Stage for Contemporary Performance project is supported by Kone Foundation in 2022–2023.

Stage premieres of the contemporary performance in August 2023:

8.–14.8.2023 Trial & Theatre: Nano Steps
22.–28.8.2023 Masi Tiitta: Dilemma

In addition, Trial & Theatre will organise open rehearsals of Nano Steps at Studio Pasila on Wednesday 2 August at 2-3 pm, when the audience can come and watch the working group prepare for the premiere. Read more and register: Trial & Theatre Open Rehearsals: Nano Steps

Helsinki City Theatre’s ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 3940 22 Mon–Fri 9 am–4 pm. From 31 July, ticket offices First line 2, Mon–Fri 12 noon–5 pm, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (on performance days) 11 am–6 pm and always one hour before the performance, and Lippu.fi, Mon–Sat 9 am–9 pm, Sun 10 am–6 pm, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge) www.hkt.fi

Press photos can be found in the image bank and press releases in the newsroom.

Further information, media ticket and interview requests: 
Communications and Marketing Manager Emmi Linnankivi, 050 440 1612
Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki