A SEASON AT VALLILA STAGE
Klockriketeatern, Teatteri Metamorfoosi and Post Theatre Collective present a theater season at the Vallila Stage. From October 25 to November 23, the Vallila Stage will be filled with a varied program.
The season is shaped by the three theaters and consists of theater productions, talks and readings among other programs. It is something special when three theatres with different characters meet and inspire each other and the audience.
What unites Klockriketeatern, Teatteri Metamorfoosi and Post Theatre Collective, apart from being Helsinki-based and working without a fixed stage, is the interest in exploring diversity: breadth in performing arts, different languages and cultures, curiosity about the world around us – and courage.
Vallila Stage, formerly Vallilan Kansallisteatteri, serves as the stage for the program. Vallilan Kansallisteatteri was used by the Finnish National Theater while their small stage was being renovated. The Finnish National Theater supports the project in various ways.
Welcome to join us for this season's theatre escapade!
THE PROGRAMME
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R.E.A.D.-festival
Dates: 25–26.10
Language: English
Theatre: Post Theatre Collective
R.E.A.D is a yearly reading drama festival organized in Helsinki by Post Theatre Collective. The festival which was established in 2014 by David Kozma is an arena that offers the opportunity to get acquainted with plays that have not been performed in Finland before.R.E.A.D brings together the Finnish audience and local and international theatre makers including playwrights, actors, and directors in an intimate environment.
The festival gives a grassroot stage to plays that might not have the possibility of having a stage in Finland, with the hope to influence and diversify the program of the bigger theatre stages in the country.
W.O.M.B. (Worth of My Body)
Performance: 27.10
Language: non-verbal, with some English
Theatre: New Theatre Helsinki
W.O.M.B. (Worth of My Body) is a multimedia choreographic piece accompanied by live instrumentation. It explores the birthing and becoming of motherhood with the many changes this entails: the relationship to one's body and physicality, the passage of time, and one’s senses of identity and origin.
W.O.M.B. embraces all the poetry, compassion and pain that comes from creating life. The performance invites a reflection on the body's ability to change through witnessing the three dancers’ culturally-inflected interpretations of motherhood. No one, nobody can go through birthing without being transformed. In an era of physical scrutiny where bodily “flaws” are to be removed or hidden, W.O.M.B. pays homage to the body that bears the signs of creating life.
Vågornas långsamma musik – reading of Jon Fosse's play
Performance: 31.10
Language: Swedish
Theatre: Klockriketeatern
On the occasion of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, Klockriketeatern pays tribute to Jon Fosse with a reading of his play I Am the Wind (Eg er vinden, 2007).
– "This is fantastic news, which is why we now offer the audience the 'slow music of the waves'," says theatre director Dan Henriksson. We 'give voice to the unspeakable', to borrow from Svenska Akademin.
The programme begins with an introduction to Jon Fosse's drama by Dan Henriksson and others, and then continues with a reading of the drama I Am the Wind.
Free event!
The Stranger
Performances: 3.11–4.11 & 16.11
Language: Finnish, English, Russian
Theatre: Teatteri Metamorfoosi
The color of our skin, the color of our passport, the color of our gender does not prevent us from becoming stranger.
This performance is about a journey in the metro from Tapiola to Mellunmäki. While witnessing the social, economical and racial clashes in Helsinki during this trip, Amira, Alina ja Anna reflect on Camus' novel the Stranger and the story of Meursault, the protagonist of the book.
They realize that even though they are Finnish citizens living in Finland they are also foreigners. The sense of belonging to a community is a social construction, which can be easily broken down. In order to prevent the crumbling of this social construction, myths are deployed. But these myths are masks which can also alienate not only the foreigners but also the one wearing the mask.
The Ghost Sonata
Performances: 4.11 & 6.11
Language: Swedish
Theatre: Klockriketeatern
Strindberg's classic in an interpretation that combines magic, manipulation and illusion with the dreamlike dance of physical theatre. In The Ghost Sonata we enter a world of deceit and self-deception, alternative facts and magic. Nothing is as it seems; existence appears as cruel and fragile, misty while crystal clear.
Director Laura Jäntti works with three strong actors who combine song, dance and circus.
Audience discussion | Laura Jäntti and Dan Henriksson
Saturday 4 November at 15.15–approx. 16.00 (in Swedish)
Performance introduction | Laura Jäntti and Dan Henriksson
Monday 6 November 18.15–18.45 (in Swedish)
Dalen. På Jorden.
Performances: 10.11 & 11.11
Language: Swedish, some Spanish and English
Theatre: Klockriketeatern
A culinary concert with smoked forest food from the wild food chef Jyrki Tsutsunen.
The theme is current: the planetary emergency. The work is based on the idea of theatre director Dan Henriksson and it combines smoked forest food by the wild food chef Jyrki Tsutsunen with musical enjoyment.
"When the clock is ticking and the Earth's fever rises, it looks dark.
We seek the light, the hope and the comfort - there is still time. Right now."
Audience discussion | Markku Ollikainen and Dan Henriksson
Saturday 11 November at 18.00–18.45 (in Finnish and Swedish)
Suomen Mestari
Performances: 14.11 & 15.11
Language: Finnish
Theatre: Post Theatre Collective
Suomen Mestari is an absurd comedy musical based on Finnish language textbooks used in adult education, and interviews with Finnish language students. The work that is inspired by Eugene Ionesco's The Bald Soprano, employs Finnish pop songs used for teaching the language in Finnish courses and borrows the main characters of the Finnish textbook Suomen mestari. These characters are introduced as unemployed and housewife immigrants on the one hand, and local architects and bankers and other masters on the other hand. Suomen Mestari aims to bring out and question these stereotypes that distort social narratives about immigrants and promote genuine intercultural dialogue that could lead to better coexistence between the majority and minorities that in reality are likely to be masters of any field in the Finnish society.
Itseen kirjoitettu – demo
Performance: 23.11
Language: Finnish
Theatre: Teatteri Metamorfoosi
After the death of his father, the French sociologist Didier Eribon reconnects with his mother and goes back to the home parents that he left thirty years ago. He then compares the transformation of French society and the personal transformation of his mother. Having left home because of the homophobic discourse at home, this coming back is a possibility for the protagonist to realize that what has motivated most of his actions and decisions in his life was shame.
The demo will present the first two parts of the show.
The demo is free but registration is required.
ACCESSIBILITY
The Vallila Stage is accessible for people using mobility aids. Find information on accessibility and how to get to the Vallila Stage here: accessibility and arrival instructions.
GLOSSARY
Collaboration to do something together for a common purpose
Diversity the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, social class, physical ability or attributes, religious or ethical values system, national origin, and political beliefs
Klockriketeatern a Swedish-speaking nomad theatre based in Helsinki.
Post Theatre Collective a Helsinki-based platform for collective producing and learning of various art practices in relation to performing arts
Teatteri Metamorfoosi a Helsinki-based theatre company that at the moment is on a journey that examines social issues
Theatre escapade an exciting, daring and maybe unusual theatre experience