Events, Projects, News Ongoing projects        Project archive World Theatre Day Awards News	Find a Fine Finnish Play About us The project leader is Mikko Viherjuuri, translator and director in residence and Chief of the Literary Department at the Tampere Theatre, Finland The project is realized in cooperation with the Finnish Theatre Information Centre, and sponsored by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation. Contact: Mikko Viherjuuri The Tampere Theatre, Keskustori 2, 33100 Tampere, FINLAND mikkoviherjuuri(at)yahoo.com tel. +358 505 763 708 Finnish Theatre Information Centre Meritullinkatu 33, 00170 Helsinki, FINLAND Tel. +358 925 112 120, Fax +358 925 112 125 tinfo(at)teatteri.org 1. phase New area for Finnish drama: USA Theatre director Mikko Viherjuuri was the primus motor to all this. A couple of years ago he introduced to TINFO an idea of a US tour of Finnish plays. The point was that Viherjuuri would travel along the West Coast with the best contemporary plays, and he would present them to the theatres. TINFO joined the project - now called Find a Fine Finnish Play - and Viherjuuri’s tour became a success. Mikko Viherjuuri introduced Finnish drama to theatres in the West Coast, and made contacts with local directors and theatre managers in 2005. After that, Finnish Theatre Information Centre invited John Blondell to Tampere Theatre Festival in 2005, and Pier Carlo Talenti in 2006. Pier Carlo Talenti is the literary manager of Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. 2. phase Festival of Finnish theatre in USA Finnish drama export was making history in June 2007. Two contemporary Finnish plays had their premieres in an American theatre. In addition, another two plays were seen as rehearsed readings.   Lit Moon Theatre Company realised a festival of Finnish drama at The Center Theatre, Santa Barbara, in June 8.-17. 2007. The artistic director of the theatre, John Blondell, directed Queen C by Laura Ruohonen. Mikko Viherjuuri directed For Sheer Love of Me by Anna Krogerus – it was the first time a Finnish theatre director worked at a professional theatre in USA. Two more plays, Mika Myllyaho’s Panic and Sirkku Peltola’s The Finnhorse were presented as staged readings at the festival. Tinfo’s director Riitta Seppälä, dramaturge Eva Buchwald from Finnish National Theatre and the playwrights Laura Ruohonen, Anna Krogerus and Sirkku Peltola were present at the festival. The seconde phase of FFFP also included a new choice of Finnish plays which Mr Viherjuuri carried in his suitcase and presented to several theatres in California. http://www.litmoon.com/ Great reviews for Finnish plays at the Midnight Sun Festival of Finnish Plays! Plays of the Find a Fine Finnish Play collection 2007-2008 presented at the Center Stage, Santa Barbara 8. - 17. June were well received by critics of main papers of Santa Barbara. Anna Krogerus's play For Sheer Love of Me at the Center Stage Theatre, Santa Barbara. Direction Mikko Viherjuuri, scenography Theodore Michael Dolas, costumes Katrina Werner, lighting Jonathan Hicks. Actors Amber Angelo, Irina Björklund, Peter Franzén and Joanne Lubeck. "I can't recall ever having been so moved as I was at the English-language premiere of "For Sheer Love of Me", part of the Midnight Sun Festival of Finnish drama playing at the Center Stage Theatre. – But the cryptically-spoken family drama has moments of, forgive my co-opting the title, sheer love that move well beyond intellectual comprehension and go directly to the heart." - Steven Libowitz, Santa Barbara Sound "IT'S ALL ABOUT ME, ME, ME (AND THE DYNAMICS OF A FAMILY -- Anna Krogerus's "For Sheer Love of Me" told from the perspective of Sylvia, a bright but lonely 10-year-old girl, is at times funny and touching, always intense and sometimes emotionally harrowing." "As Sylvia, 22-year-old Westmont graduate Amber Angelo sparkles with an unexplainable ability to channel her 10-year-old character.  Her physical mannerisms, style of speaking and thin veneer of outward happiness over inner turmoil are authentically childlike and eerly believable. Ms. Lubeck brings innocence and rationality into a difficult situation, but conveys her character's insecurities and fears as Salli's ties to the family become harder to unravel. Mr. Franzen is convincing as the TV shrink who enjoys an adoring relationship with his viewers but has hard time sharing his emotion with his family. Ms. Bjorklund gives a wonderfully edgy performance as a wife and mother who tries to mask her outward appearance of spontaneity and free-spiridness, and to distract herself with delusions of love. "For Sheer Love of Me" gives a gritty picture of missed opportunities and sad truths, yet offers surprisingly sweet and tender ending, promising hope amid disappointments." - Justine Sutton, Santa Barbara News-Press "BABY PENGUIN SAVES THE DAY -- With its title taken from a line in Sylvia Plath poem  (“Tulips”) and a character’s dog named after Jack Kerouac, one might expect For Sheer Love of Me to be some kind of derivative, American-influenced postmodern trifle. Yet this excellent play, well directed by Mikko Viherjuuri and beautifully acted by the cast of four, is anything but a meta-fictional exercise. The story is relatively simple, but the bittersweet blend of emotions is not, and the writing gives each actor room to deliver a stellar performance." “But despite a fully realized and thoroughly engrossing adultery plot, this play is not finally about the adults. Rather, it is the story of the Jalovaara’s 10-year-old daughter, Sylvia. As played by Amber Angelo, Sylvia steals scene after scene with her antics - rushing from one end of the double-sided stage to the other, crawling, dancing, and making all manner of sounds, from delightful cooing bird noises (she fantasizes about being a baby penguin) to some shockingly grown-up curse words. Sylvia resents being named after Sylvia Plath, and she desperately wants what every girl deserves: a decent home with two loving parents.” “The 13-going-on-30 gimmick of having a young adult actress playing a child pays off in a series of provocative revelations, all of which lead to a profoundly imaginative and touching final scene in which the child’s fantasy forms the basis for the adults’ reconciliation.” - Charles Donelan, The Independent Laura Ruohonen's play Queen C at the Center Stage Theatre, Santa Barbara.  Direction John Blondell, scenography and lighting Theodore Michael Dolas, costumes Katrina Werner. Actors Victoria Finlayson, Kate Louise Paulsen, Erin Brehm, Mitchell Mclean and Stanley Hoffman. "ARE YOU A MAN? -- Ruohonen's play explores the fascinating personality of Queen Christina, 17th-century monarch of Sweden.  Raised as a boy and known by nickname "Girl King", she ultimately abdicated.  The world the playwright conjures from this historical source is far from realistic, and the play unfolds more like a surreal dream than a chronological sequence. Christina is proud, intelligent, stubborn, and desperate to escape the confines of her royalty and her gender." "As played by Finlayson, Christina was compelling inscrutable, and relentless." "John Blondell's direction captured the play's layered, poetic, and metaphoral nature --  letting out the script's humor and absurdity, as well as its deep ambiguities and tragic moments. The playwright took all in rapt and beaming." - Elizabeth Schwyzer, Santa Barbara Independent "The non-realistic elements of the play were an ideal platform for the Lit Moon Company, which is noted for its innovative and physical approaches to theatre. The Queen was played by Victoria Finlayson with all of the willfulness and eccentricities of the monarch volatile character." "At the reception I had the opportunity to speak with the attractive young playwright. "The play", "she explained, "captured the soul of the Queen, not the realistic exterior." "Ruohonen, who is one of Finland's leading playwrights, has seen several European productions of "Queen C," including one performed in front of a tank of live eels, and was impressed that the Lit Moon performance was "very different" from any of them. Sitting in the front row with a smile throughout the play she clearly enjoyed her American professional premiere." -    Paul Foster Froemming, Santa Barbara Sound Staged readings of Mika Myllyaho’s play Panic (direction Cambria Forden) and Sirkku Peltola’s play The Finnhorse (direction Maurice Lord)at the Center Stage. “The Midnight Sun Festival has great significance as an opportunity for exposure to Finnish theater, which boasts the record for per capita ticket sales in the world.” “ Panic addresses the issues of three middle-class men who are struggling to cope with the everyday pressures of succeeding in terms of friendships, work, and their relationships. The play manages to portray successfully both the serious and comedic aspects of life in an urban jungle as the characters slowly reveal more about themselves and their struggles. - - - Author Mika Myllyaho gives the men their own voices while still conveying the similarities in character common in close friendships.” “The Finnhorse represents a different aspect of Finnish culture entirely, as it is set in the rural countryside of Finland at a family farmhouse.- - - Author Sirkku Peltola is brilliant at conveying social issues through familial relationships, and it is no wonder this play received two major “Best Play of the Year” awards in 2005.” “It’s easy to see from these works how strong the theater community in Finland really is, and we are lucky to have such delightful examples of the work of Finland’s most exciting contemporary playwrights on display again this weekend. We can only hope that the Lit Moon Theater Company and the Finish Theater Information Centre use their success (standing room only at both staged readings!) as a sign that the Midnight Sun Festival should come back to Santa Barbara for more. - Macy Weiser, Santa Barbara Independent Mikko Viherjuuri                   Project Leader                         Find a Fine Finnish Play         mikkoviherjuuri@yahoo.com    Riitta Seppala Director Finnish Theatre Information Centre riitta.seppala@teatteri.org