The Young Stage application period is launched – HKT is involved in mentoring young people interested in theatre
New play texts and mentoring help from professional theatres are now available to all young people interested in theatre. Helsinki City Theatre is involved in the project together with six other professional theatres in 2016–2018.
In March 2017, the national Young Stage project, organised by the Finnish Workers’ Theatre Association (TNL), is looking for groups of young theatre enthusiasts to create new plays with the support of professional theatre. The multifaceted play texts for 13–19-year-olds are written by Gunilla Hemming, Pipsa Longa and Veikko Nuutinen . The fourth play was written by Rasmus Lindberg for a similar project in Sweden in 2014.
The participants can be school groups, students, ready-made amateur groups or completely new ensembles. They all have their own directors, and the work is mentored by theatre professionals working in professional theatres. Six artists from the City Theatre will participate, each of whom will act as a mentor or sponsor for one group.
Helsinki City Theatre participated in Nuori Näyttämö for the first time in 2013–15. At that time, 27 theatre groups, 450 young people, participated in the project nationwide, and the audience of the performances was more than 10,000 spectators.
Helsinki City Theatre and the Finnish National Theatre have organised a joint application process for groups in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The application period for youth groups is 1.3.-31.3.2017 at www.nuorinayttamo.info.
The seven professional theatres involved represent the whole of Finland both geographically and functionally. For the first time in their history, the Helsinki City Theatre and the Finnish National Theatre, the two major operators in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, will join forces in organising a joint local festival in the spring of 2018. Of the provincial theatres, the Mikkeli and Varkaus Theatres will organise a joint local festival. Of the northern theatres, the Kemi City Theatre participates, and the easternmost is the Kotka City Theatre. The young people of the Tampere Region cooperate with the Tampere Workers’ Theatre , which is the venue for the grand closing festival.
The project is supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and the People’s Education Fund.
Further information: Helsinki City Theatre, Mirja Neuvonen, Head of Audience Outreach, tel. 040 35223969, mirja.neuvonen@hkt.fi