What does the neighborhood look like through the eyes of a child? Kindergarten children’s thoughts turned into a touring theatre performance

In the play My Neighbour, the Migrant has just moved to Malmi. The new home and neighborhood are exciting, but when the brave Guy appears behind the door, they start exploring strange noises and a new environment together. The excitement gradually turns into a shared game.

The touring children’s theatre performance is based entirely on the children’s own ideas about what neighbourliness is. In the autumn of 2025, the audience outreach team of the Helsinki City Theatre held workshops in the pre-school groups of daycare centres in Malmi. After the workshops, the working group had 30 pages of transcribed text, recordings, dance moves and drawings, based on which the script, music, choreography and sets of the work were compiled.

“In the workshops, we pretended that we don’t know what neighbourliness is. This ensured that the children’s own mindset was as pure as possible in the performance. The play’s dialogues include direct quotes from children, and the music and soundscape of the work are composed entirely of their voices,” says Jenny Jumppanen, the director of the performance.

My Neighbour will premiere at Malmitalo on 11 September. After that, the performance will tour the daycare centres and other communal spaces in the Malmi area, such as service homes for the elderly. The aim of the performance tour is not only to bring theatre into children’s everyday lives, but also to create space for intergenerational encounters: kindergarten groups and families are invited to the performances organised in community spaces, so that viewers of different ages can meet around the performance.

“In audience outreach, we want to make theatre accessible to everyone and highlight diverse voices from people of different ages. When we look at the world from a child’s point of view, it also opens up what kinds of things in the neighbourhood are important to children. Such perspectives can also broaden the planning of the urban environment, for example.”

The performers in the play My Neighbour are Laura Ikonen, Aleksi Kinnunen and Janne Puustinen. Puustinen is also responsible for the manuscript of the work. The instructor is Jenny Jumppanen. The sound design and music are by Aleksi Kinnunen. The scenography is by Riikka Karjalainen.

The performance is part of the Helsinki City Theatre’s Malmi in the Main Role project, which implements community-based art and theatre activities in the Malmi area together with residents. In the main role, Malmi is one of the Helsinki Model projects funded by the City of Helsinki.

Press release photo: Miika Storm. In the photo: Laura Ikonen, Aleksi Kinnunen and Janne Puustinen.

Helsinki City Theatre’s ticket sales and customer service by phone (09) 394022 Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Ticket offices Ensi linja 2, Mon-Fri 11-17.30, Eläintarhantie 5, Sat (on performance days) 11-18 and one hour before the performance and Lippu.fi, Mon-Sat 9-21, Sun 10-18, tel. 0600 900 900 (2 €/min + local network charge) www.hkt.fi

Further information, media ticket reservations and interview requests:
Kaisa Pelkonen, Communications Manager, kaisa.pelkonen@hkt.fi, 040 552 3788 Helsinki City Theatre, Ensi linja 2, 00530 Helsinki

Further information on the Malmi in the Main Role project:
Audience Worker Jenny Jumppanen, jenny.jumppanen@hkt.fi, 040 652 9932