Urban comedy novelty elevates the city’s workman as the main character
In early 2022, Helsinki City Theatre will bring to its repertoire a new Finnish drama comedy Mikko Räsänen’s Future, the award-winning British farce The Play That Goes Wrong, and a new dramatisation of Robert James Waller’s best-selling novel Silent Bridges. Lilla Teatern will premiere Kris och katastrof i Moominalen, based on Tove Jansson’s comics, and the hit musical Once in Finnish.
The spring season on the big stage will open on 3 February with the Finnish novelty Mikko Räsänen’s Future. It is the third part of a trilogy of plays (There’s no Harri, 2012 and Gravity Problem, 2016) by author Mika Ripatti, who works as an earthmoving contractor. The new play, set at a city construction site, is not only a comedy about the social classes of classless Finland, but also an honest drama with a warm heart.
The renovation of the city’s water supply is underway, but the project is being sold to the public as a bicycle path. Workman Mikko Räsänen has experienced a great loss and is trying to cope with his everyday life with his 18-year-old son Aapo. The mayor has ordered an online stream of the construction site, and since the promised bicycle path to the city residents is not yet even a metre ready, the foreman orders the construction of a temporary bicycle path to be demolished immediately after the incident.
The play is directed by Heikki Kujanpää and its title role is played by Martti Suosalo. The other roles are played by Rauno Ahonen, Lumi Aunio, Pekka Huotari, Sanna-June Hyde, Paavo Kääriäinen, Martti Manninen, Vappu Nalbantoglu, Maksim Pavlenko, Jari Pehkonen and Raili Raitala. The music and rich soundscape of the performance are provided by composer Timo Hietala and musician Joakim Berghäll, whose instruments include a grand piano and a road drill.
On 10 February, the award-winning comedy hit The Play That Goes Wrong (2018) by the British writer trio Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields will premiere on the Arena stage. The play, which was originally written as a thesis for the theatre school, became a huge worldwide success, and now it is performed in Finnish for the first time in Helsinki.
Set in the world of theatre, the comedy follows the unsuccessful attempt of an amateur theatre group, the Pirkanmaa Polytechnic Society, to prepare a classic murder mystery for its premiere. If something can go wrong in a presentation, it will – and even more!
The play, translated into Finnish by Mikko Koivusalo, is directed by Pentti Kotkaniemi. The comedy, which offers masterful acting, features Alex Anton, Joel Hirvonen, Risto Kaskilahti, Santeri Kinnunen, Matti Rasila, Eppu Salminen, Eija Vilpas and Linda Wiklund. The set design also plays a particularly important role in the performance, and it is designed by Peter Ahlqvist.
The magically beautiful love story Silent Bridges will be seen for the first time on the Helsinki stage, when Ari-Pekka Lahti’s new dramatisation of the bestselling novel by the American Robert James Waller (1992) premieres on 29 January on a small stage. The play is directed by Liisa Mustonen and stars Merja Larivaara, Kari Heiskanen and Elina Hietala, among others.
A lonely globetrotter, photographer Robert Kincaid (Kari Heiskanen) arrives in Madison County, Iowa, to photograph wooden bridges. He gets lost and meets the farm’s mistress Francesca Johnson (Merja Larivaara), a woman who has quietly resigned herself to her role. A larger-than-life love ignites between Francesca and Robert, which they live through over the course of four days. Those four days will irrevocably change both of their lives.
When it was published in the 1990s, the work of a small publishing house unexpectedly gained enormous popularity, and all editions of the novel were sold out. Its popularity exploded into a global phenomenon with the film starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep (1995).
On 17 February, the first performance based on Tove Jansson’s original comics, Kris och katastrof i Moominalen, will premiere on the Swedish-language stage of Lilla Teatern. The idea, direction and choreography of the performance are the responsibility of Lilla Teatern’s artistic director Jakob Höglund. The comics drawn by Tove Jansson and her brother Lars Jansson between 1954 and 1975 for the British newspaper The Evening News are dramatised by Annina Enckell. The show is aimed at adults, just like the comic.
The puppet aesthetics of the award-winning Heini Maaranen bring the characters to life in a set created by Swedish Sven Haraldsson . The music for the performance has been composed by actor and musician Robert Kock, who is familiar from the stage of Lilla Teatern. The cast includes Ulriikka Heikinheimo, Vuokko Hovatta, Robert Kock, Reetta Moilanen, Elena Rekola, Pia Runnakko, Ursula Salo, Riina Tikkanen, Alexander Wendelin and Joachim Wigelius.
Lillan’s first Moomin play was made 64 years ago, when the hugely popular Troll i kulisserna (Moomins behind the scenes) premiered in 1958. Tove Jansson wrote the play and designed the costumes and set design, Vivica Bandler directed and Moomintroll was played by Lasse Pöysti.
The hugely popular musical Once, which premiered in Swedish at Lilla Teatern in October 2020 and returned to the repertoire in autumn 2021, will have its Finnish premiere on 20 January on the same stage and with the same highly talented team. The Finnish translation of the musical, written by Enda Walsh and composed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglova, is by Hanna Kaila (songs) and Reita Lounatvuori (dialogue).
Set on the streets of Dublin, Once tells the story of an unexpected encounter between a street musician and an immigrant, which gives rise to a beautiful story of love and music. Once is a heartbreaking story told with warmth and humour about life’s crossroads and the power of music. Forgotten dreams come to life and the future takes on a hopeful tone.
The musical Once is directed and choreographed by Jakob Höglund and stars Emma Klingenberg, Tuukka Leppänen, Ulriikka Heikinheimo, Santeri Helinheimo Mäntylä, Aili Järvelä, Aleksi Kauffman, Robert Kock, Hilda Koskinen, Pia Runnakko, Kalle Ruusukallio, Tekla Tolonen, Riku Vartiainen, Alexander Wendelin and Joachim Wigelius.
After the turn of the year, the programme will continue on the big stage with the touching musical novelty As in Heaven and the musical adventure for the whole family Tatu and Patu in Helsinki. On the small stage, Milja Sarkola’s Bolla and Heidi Herala’s stunning interpretation of Rosa Liksom’s The Colonel will continue. The stand-up club Club act!one and the record-breaking all-time favourite Kivi taskussa will continue in Studio Pasila.
Read the new Theatre Extra here.
Next premieres at the Helsinki City Theatre
11.11.2021 Gravity on a small stage, choreographed by Jarkko Mandelin
8. and 9.12.2021 Miser’s Christmas studio in Pasila, dir. Heikki Sankari
20.1.2022 Once in Finnish at Lilla Teatern, dir. and chor. Jakob Höglund
29.1.2022 Silent Bridges on a small stage, dir. Liisa Mustonen
3.2.2022 Mikko Räsänen’s future on the big stage, dir. Heikki Kujanpää
10.2.2022 The play that goes wrong On the Arena stage, dir. Pentti Kotkaniemi
17.2.2022 Crisis and Disaster in Moominvalley Lilla Teaternissa, dir. Jakob Höglund
Guest performances
16. and 30.11.2021 Pete Poskiparta – Mentalist 3.0 on the Arena stage
5.12.2021 at 2 pm and 6 pm Love Letters on the Arena Stage
Public events
Having coffee with the author in the foyer of the big stage. Guest authors 10.11.2021 at 5 p.m. Heidi Köngäs and 1.12.2021 at 5 p.m. Meri Valkama. The event is free of charge. Pre-registration.
Wednesday backstage tours once a month on Wednesdays starting from 12.1.2021. Reservations from the online store.
Helsinki City Theatre’s customer service and ticket sales by phone at 09 394022 Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., ticket office Mon-Fri 11 a.m. – 5.30 p.m., First Line 2, and one hour before the performance of the large and/or small stage and on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (on performance days), Eläintarhantie 5. Lippupiste Mon-Fri 9 am – 5 pm, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge)
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