Towards the light of summer
It is the spring of 1945. World War II is coming to an end, and German soldiers are boarding evacuation ships in northern Norway. Women who worked for the German army are left on the beach and taken to Norwegian prison camps. When a guard releases a small load of prisoners, five women from northern Finland decide to walk home through burnt and mined Lapland.
Didn’t Say Regret is based on Tommi Kinnunen’s novel, which was nominated for the Finlandia Prize in 2020. “Tommi has wondered how a novel can bend to the stage when you just think and walk, but I think it has a lot of action, tension and moving dramatic moments,” says screenwriter and director Susanna Airaksinen.
A popular novel may raise expectations in viewers about what a play adaptation should be like. Airaksinen has not taken any pressure from this, as the novel operates in different ways than the stage, which is spatial, visual and bodily. “The story is the same, but the change is really big. There is no way to meet the viewers’ expectations if they have a strong image of what this should look like,” Airaksinen says.
The genre of the work has a touch of the atmosphere of western films: you travel through the wilderness, spend the night by a campfire and survive in harsh conditions. This gave Airaksinen the idea that the performance would include live music. The three-piece band plays guitar-oriented instrumental music in the spirit of surf rock and wire.
Emotional journey
Travelling is dangerous when there is no path or road. The wrong and scarce equipment, hunger and cold make the journey exhausting. In addition to the physical effort, the women must face themselves and their own past, which in the play pops up from the wilderness in the form of flashes and flashbacks.
The women had joined the German army for whatever reason: some fled from loneliness, some for adventure, work or a wealthier life. The end of the war turned them into traitors in an instant.
“The play is a great illustration of how, in the aftermath of the war, women are forced to answer for their own actions as civilians, while soldiers can appeal to the hierarchy of the army and hide in a large mass with their uniforms,” Airaksinen says.
At the beginning of the play, the women’s hair is shaved with the intention of shaming them, as punishment for conspiring with the Germans. On the way, they have to account for whether they need to be ashamed of their choices.
“This is a classic wilderness hike, during which thoughts are explored. I think it creates an interesting theatrical language when thoughts and experiences become physical,” Airaksinen says.
Crisis as an opportunity
The choices made by women have led to a dead end, and there is no going back to pre-war life. The organist’s wife, Irene, has been following the wind in her life, and she must now decide whether to return to her husband. Veera, who has worked as a prostitute, would like to have her little son back, while Katri, who is pregnant, is scared of the possibility of having a child. Siiri reassesses her self-image and thinks about how she would like to be seen. Aili suffers from physical pain and drug addiction.
Airaksinen wants to look at the characters and their choices with mercy: “Tommi writes about wild events and destinies, but he has a humane eye on people. That’s what I’ve wanted to cultivate more in this world.”
In Airaksinen’s opinion, it is the experience of the crisis that makes the play universal, because sooner or later everyone has to go through a tough phase. He points out that the question “what would you do then?” is an experience very similar to walking in the wilderness without a precise direction.
In the play, wilderness landscapes and the surrounding nature bring lightness to travel. During the journey, the snow melts, the fairways open up and the greenery spreads into the landscape. Spring beats winter and finally turns into summer.
“On the big stage, it’s always about forces bigger than humans, about world events and being at the mercy of nature and in the midst of immense beauty. As we move towards summer, we move towards freedom and something comforting.”
Ida Henritius