“This play doesn’t proclaim, it listens” – Aleksi from Finland premieres on a small stage
On 9 October, the true story of Finnish professional soldier Aleksi Lysander (1989–2024) will premiere on the Small Stage.Aleksi Suomesta is an adaptation by Ari-Pekka Lahti of Tuomas Kyrö’s book of the same name, which was nominated for the Finlandia Prize for non-fiction (WSOY, 2023). Directed by Tuomas Rinta-Panttila, the film features Roderick Kabanga and Eetu Känkänen.
The son of a Finnish mother and a Senegalese father who spent his childhood on his grandparents’ farm in Oulu decided to become a soldier and joined the Foreign Legion at the age of 18. He served in Afghanistan and several African countries. He was one of the first volunteers to go to Ukraine in 2022, returned to Finland from time to time, but left for Ukraine again in the fall of 2024, where he passed away in the last days of the year.
The play was prepared in cooperation with Aleksi Lysander . He hoped that the performance would be carried out and that it would be as honest as possible about the aftermath of war and how war is never the right solution.
“Aleksi Suomesta is a true story about a Finnish soldier – a person who, despite the difficulties, tried to defend the people he loved and the values that took root on his grandmother’s and grandpa’s farm. The play takes the viewer to the heart of the war, not through the hero myth but through the experience of the individual. If we want to understand the effects of war on people and the nation, we must listen to those who have experienced it. This work is a security of supply factor – a smart tool of warfare that does not use weapons but ideas. It invites you to gather in the theatre as if on the edge of a market square 2500 years ago, when war was raging around Athens and democracy was still being built. This play does not proclaim, but listens. It does not explain, but invites us to feel, think and see war through the eyes of a soldier,” says dramatist Ari-Pekka Lahti.
“Aleksi from Finland tells the story of one person. A man whose profession was a soldier, who practiced his profession on many fronts and whose mind was broken by the war, irrevocably. In the work, an attempt is made to look at and understand him, his choices and their consequences, and the gesture of narration is brought to the centre. There are two Alexis on stage, four military uniforms, but no weapons. At the moment, the war comes close to us as real images, the depiction of war is not seen on stage,” says director Tuomas Rinta-Panttila.
The delicate and shocking story is presented by actors Roderick Kabanga and Eetu Känkänen.
Mika Haaranen is responsible for the set design and lighting and video design of the performance. The costumes are designed by Elina Kolehmainen. The composition and sound design is by Aleksi Saura and the disguise is designed by Tuula Kuittinen. The dramaturg has been Sanna Niemeläinen.
Aleksi Suomesta premieres on 9.10.2025 on the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre (Eläintarhantie 5).
Basic ticket €47, student ticket €23.50 (Mon-Thu) and pensioner ticket €44 (Mon-Thu)
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In the photo: Roderick Kabanga and Eetu Känkänen. Photo: Ilkka Saastamoinen.
Further information, interview requests and media ticket requests:
Kaisa Pelkonen, Communications Manager, kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788
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