Inspired by true crime and mystery, Beauty and the Beasts will premiere in April
The fifth co-production of HKT and the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, which began in spring 2021 , will premiere on a small stage on 10 April. The cast includes 12 future theatre artists studying at the Theatre Academy, and the design is also being done by a student of the TheatreAcademy. The play, written by Sinna Virtanen, is directed by award-winning director Linda Wallgren.
Beauty and the Monsters is set in a twisted fantasy village familiar from cartoons. The play unravels and retells the story of Beauty and the Beast, the first published version of which is Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve’s from 1740. The work borrows, steals and forges different versions of fairy tales, combining the cute and the macabre, the kinky and the small, the evil and the angelic. Underneath the different versions of the fairy tale, there is a brutal murder case of a young woman that took place in the real world in 2010, which shocked the whole of Italy, and which was feverishly followed by the media. The work reflects on the selling of grief, collective murder and sensationalism. “It is an extraordinary pleasure to be able to create a work that combines the inimitable language and form of a contemporary play with Sinna Virtanen’s inimitable voice, a brilliant and talented group of actors, and a multi-layered and certainly surprising subject matter and narrative. The world of the performance is at the same time precise and outrageous, beautiful and ugly, funny and horrible, and in my opinion deals with the toxic settings that I call the truths of news and fairy tales in an insightful and deep humanity,” says director Linda Wallgren. The work features third-year students of the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki: Sonja Arffman, Heidi Finnberg, Elina Kanerva, Mikael Karvia, Väinö Lehtinen, Miriam Mekhane, Yosef Nousiainen, Rebecca Nugent, Iina Nyländen, Pablo Ounaskari, Milla Palin and Janika Suopanki. The set design is by Sanna Levo, the costumes are by Kaisa Savolainen (Aalto ARTS) and the camouflage is by Henri Karjalainen. The lighting design is by Aku Lahti and the sound design by Juri Jänis (Theatre Academy). The dramaturg is Henna Piirto. Beauty and the Monsters is a lightly updated bachelor’s play by award-winning playwright Sinna Virtanen from the Theatre Academy in 2012. The director of the work, Linda Wallgren, is one of the most interesting directors of the younger generation, whose previous works have been awarded the State Prize for Public Information (2022) and the Eino Kalima Director Award (2024). The performance is a continuation of the collaboration that began in the spring of 2021 between the Theatre Academy’s Degree Programme in Acting and the Helsinki City Theatre, in which third-year students of acting come to the Helsinki City Theatre in the spring and prepare a performance as their bachelor’s project together with professionals from outside the school. Read the director’s interview on the theatre’s website: Layers of truth, fairy tale, news and rumours mix on stageBeauty and the Monsters premieres on 10 April 2025 on the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre (Eläintarhantie 5). Tickets: basic ticket €31, student ticket €15.50 (Mon-Thu) and pensioner ticket €28 (Mon-Thu) #kaunotarjahirviöt @hktfi @uniartshelsinki Helsinki City Theatre ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 3940 22 Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ticket offices First line 2, Mon-Fri 12-17, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (performance days) 11-18.30 and one hour before the performance and Lippu.fi, Mon-Sat 9-21, Sun 10-16, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/from min+local network charge) www.hkt.fi Press release photo: Mitro HärkönenFurther information, interview requests and media ticket requests: Communications Manager Kaisa Pelkonen, kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki