Tinfo news 2007/10


		No 10 / October 2007
		News from the Finnish Theatre Information Centre

		This is a bulletin informing you about theatre events, new drama and international projects in Finland, sent to you by the Finnish Theatre Information Centre (TINFO). Some basic information of Finnish theatre life, and links to theatres, theatre organisations and festivals you can find from our website http://www.teatteri.org/english/index.html

		Finnish drama awards: rewarded theatres, plays, designers - and Juha Hurme Nominations: new names to National Opera and Tampere Theatre Festival Premieres of Finnish plays in Europe and USA Drama readings in Uruguay and Chile Drama anthologies in Spanish and Russian New operas Upcoming festivals

		Finnish drama awards The Theatre of the Year 2007 Suomen Teatterit ry (The Association of Finnish Theatres) has chosen Dance Theatre Minimi The Theatre of the Year 2007. Minimi is, according to the jury, a bold and persistent dance theatre with a positive attitude to the future and international activities. http://www.minimi.fi/ The Play of The Year 2007 The other award given out every second year by The Association of Finnish Theatres is The Play of The Year. From the Finnish plays performed in theatres in 2005 and 2006, the play Nelostie was awarded this year. It is written by Ari Wahlsten and Juha Hurme, and the premiere of the play was in Q-teatteri in 2005. Q-teatteri itself was the preciding Theatre of the Year in 2005. http://www.q-teatteri.fi Esko of the Year 2007 Playwright, director Juha Hurme takes the headlines by scooping up his second award of the year. Aleksis Kivi Society has chosen him as Esko of the Year 2007. Esko is the stubborn hero in Finland’s national writer Aleksis Kivi’s (1834-1872) play Nummisuutarit (Heath Cobblers). Aleksis Kivi Society says that Juha Hurme has brought something quite new to Finnish theatre with his distinctive productions both on amateur and professional stages. Säde Awards of the Union of Light and Sound Designers The very first Säde Awards have been given out to distinguished video and projection designers, sound designers and light designers. Sound designer Mikko Hynninen was awarded for his broad and innovative approach to sound art. Light designer Mikki Kunttu was awarded especially for his designs to opera and dance productions. In 2006 Kunttu received the Bessie Prize in New York, and he was the light designer of the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki 2007. Teemu Määttänen was awarded for his video and projection designs. According to the jury, Määttänen has developed video and projection design to an autonomous and artistically important element of a performance. OISTATs Golden pin for Maija Pekkanen Mrs. Maija Pekkanen (dress designer at the Helsinki City Theatre) was awarded with OISTAT’s highest honor - Golden Pin – at the OISTAT 40th Anniversary in July in Prague. The Golden pin is awarded in appreciation of valuable contribution to OISTAT and it implies position either as a president or general secretary or corresponding tasks. Maija Pekkanen has been a member of the international board in 1991-2007 and the president 2001-2005. Up

		Nominations Päivi Kärkkäinen appointed General Director of the Finnish National Opera The Board of Directors of the Finnish National Opera Foundation decided at its meeting on September 27, to appoint Päivi Kärkkäinen, Lic.Phil., General Director of the Finnish National Opera. Mrs Kärkkäinen will take up the position on December 1, 2007. Her contract has no fixed duration. Before deciding on the matter, the Board consulted the personnel groups of the Finnish National Opera, who unanimously endorsed Kärkkäinen’s appointment. Päivi Kärkkäinen will be leaving the post of Head of Programming at Fact and Culture with the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) to take up the position of General Director. The Board believes that her experience in personnel-motivation-based management of an expert organization and her considerable financial competence will be significant assets in pursuing the development and improved efficiency of the Finnish National Opera. The General Director is the overall manager of the Finnish National Opera; the duties of the General Director and the Artistic Director of the Opera were separated earlier this autumn. http://www.operafin.fi Hanna Rosendahl appointed Executive Director of Tampere Theatre Festival Next year is a jubilee year for the Tampere Theatre Festival. The festival celebrates its 40th anniversary on 4–10 August. The board of the Tampere Theatre Festival has appointed choreographer-dancer, Mrs. Hanna Rosendahl to the post of the festival's executive director. The previous executive director, Raija-Liisa Seilo, is appointed to Director of the Theatre to Turku City Theatre She has worked as a substitute executive director of the festival since the 1st of February this year, and as a member of the board in 2004-2006. The executive director's duties include economics, administration and personnel. Hanna Rosendahl takes also part in planning the festival's main programme together with the artistic team. The New Artistic Team of the Tampere Theatre Festival Translator Jukka-Pekka Pajunen (Master of Arts/German Philology), director Saana Lavaste (Master of Arts/Theatre and Drama) and director Mika Myllyaho (Master of Arts/Theatre and Drama) are the new members of the Festival's Artistic Team. Jukka-Pekka Pajunen continues in the team and begins to select performances for his fifth Festival Programme. Pajunen works in various tasks in the field of theatre. He has worked, for instance, as a literary assistant to the Finnish National Theatre during 1998-2006. Pajunen is a distinguished translator. He translates drama and prose into Finnish and has received The State Prize for Literature for his translation of Elfriede Jelinek's Die Klavierspielerin (The Piano Teacher). Director Saana Lavaste graduated from the Theatre Academy on 2003. She worked as a director of the Vaasa City Theatre during 2003-2005. Lavaste is the director and a founder member of the Theatre Siperia, which was established in 2005. Lavaste has directed several performances, which have been invited to the Tampere Theatre Festival. Director Mika Myllyaho has worked as the artistic director of the Ryhmäteatteri Theatre together with Esa Leskinen. His latest directions that have been invited to the Tampere Theatre Festival include Paniikki (Panic) 2006 and Puhdistus 2007. Myllyaho has also written Panic. http://www.teatterikesa.fi/in_english/ Virve Sutinen takes over Dansens Hus in Stockholm Virve Sutinen is in charge of the performing arts programme in Kiasma, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki. She has been elected successor to Kenneth Kvarnström in the lead of Dansens Hus in Stockholm from the beginning of 2008. http://www.dansenshus.se And Virve Sutinen appointed president of IETM Virve Sutinen has also been appointed President for a three year term of IETM, International Network for Contemporary Performing Art. http://www.ietm.org Merja Laaksovirta re-elected to the board of AITA/IATA Managing Director of the Finnish Amateur Theatre Association Merja Laaksovirta has been re-elected to the board of AITA/IATA International Amateur Theatre Association for 2008-2011. Laaksovirta has been Vice President of AITA/IATA since 2004. http://www.shtl.fi Anneli Temmes appointed director of Finnagora Anneli Temmes is working at the moment as a vice managing director at HAUS kehittämiskeskus Oy (Finnish Institute of Public Management Ltd) in Helsinki. Temmes will start her three years term in Hungary in January 1st 2008. Hanna-Leena Helavuori, who has been directing Finnagora since autumn 2005, will get back to Theatre Museum in Helsinki. http://www.finnagora.hu Sari Lakso appointed General Secretary of Helsinki International Ballet Competition Dancer, choreographer, dance pedagogue Sari Lakso will lead the preparations of Helsinki International Ballet Competition 2009. Further information on the competition will be added on the site http://www.balcomphel.fi Up

		Premieres of Finnish plays abroad Kristian Smeds´ Yhä pimenevä talo (ДОМ, ПОГЛОЩАЕМЫЙ ТЬМОЙ) had its premiere in Ukraine in Teatr na Podol in September. The play was directed by Joel Lehtonen. Sirkku Peltola´s Suomen hevonen (The Finnhorse, Soome Hobune) had its premiere in Eesti Draamateater in Estonia in October. The play was directed by Roman Baskin. Juha Jokela´s Fundamentalisti (Th Fundamentalist) will have its premiere in Faroe Islands at the Theatre Grima on October 27th. A play adapted of Reko Lundan’s two plays and one novel has had its premiere in Vanemuine Theatre in Estonia. Ilman suuria suruja (Suurema kurbuseta) is directed by Ingo Normet. The artistic director of Kuopio City Theatre, Lasse Lindeman, will be directing Bengt Ahlfors´ play Viimeinen sikari (Viimane Sigar, The Last Cigar) in Vana Baskini Theatre in Tallinn, Estonia. The premiere will be in November. Ahlfors’ The Last Cigar has had its German premiere (Die Letzte Zigarre) in October in Studiobüchne Theatre, Bayreuth. The play is being performed right now also in Prague and Bratislava. Mika Myllyaho´s Paniikki (Panic) will have it´s premiere in Copenhagen, Denmark in February 14th 2008. The play is directed by Morten Kirkskov. Sirkku Peltola´s Mummun saappaassa soi fox (Gran’s Wellington Fox) goes to California. The play will be directed by Mikko Viherjuuri. He has been invited to Rubicon Theatre´s International Theatre Festival in July 2008. The play has been translated to English by Eva Buchwald. Lit Moon Midnight Sun Festival In June, The Lit Moon Theatre Company in Santa Barbara, USA, offered a mini-repertory of contemporary plays by some of Finland’s most celebrated playwrights. Lit Moon Midnight Sun Festival introduced fully staged productions written by Laura Ruohonen (Queen C) and Anna Krogerus (For the Sheer Love of Me). The repertory also included staged readings of the plays Panic by Mika Myllyaho and The Finnhorse by Sirkku Peltola. The event was a co-production between Lit Moon and TINFO with support from the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Mikko Viherjuuri, resident director and literary advisor of the Tampere Theatre, Finland, spearheaded the project. Mr. Viherjuuri’s staging of For the Sheer Love Of Me was the first time a Finnish director staged a play by a professional theatre company in the United States. The Artistic Director of The Lit Moon Theatre Company, John Blondell, directed Ruohonen’s Queen C. The critics were throughout praising: I can’t recall ever having been so moved as I was at the Enhglish-language premiere of For Sheer Love of Me, part of the Midnight Sun Festival of Finnish drama playing through this weekend at the Center Stage Theatre. --- 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 at the heart. – Steven Libowitz, Santa Barbara Daily Sound. John Blondell’s direction captured the play’s layered, poetic, and metaphorical nature – letting out the script’s humour and absurdity, as well as its deep ambiguities and tragic moments. – Elizabeth Schwyzer, Santa Barbara Independent. Up

		Readings of Finnish plays Complot theatre in Montevideo, Uruguay performed a series of staged readings of three Finnish plays in the end of June. The readings were arranged with the support of TINFO and the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The readings were Maaria Blomma by Jussi Kylätasku (translation of Maritza Núñez, directed by Marianella Moreno), Onko Kongossa tiikereitä (¿Hay tigres en el Congo?) by Bengt Ahlfors and Johan Bargum (translation of Fransisco J.Uriz, directed by Dervey Vilas) and Betoniyö (La noche de cemento) by Pirkko Saisio (translation of Maritza Núñez, directed by Angie Oña). ******* Laura Ruohonen´s Yksinen (Loneholm) and Kuningatar K (Queen C) will be read at CaféTeatret, Copenhagen in November 10th. Up

		Anthology projects The Finnish drama export will become more effective in the Latin countries in the next few years. TINFO has reached an agreement with the Spanish theatre publisher ADE to publish five new drama anthologies in Spanish in 2008-2010. The anthologies will consist of contemporary drama, the first one will be published in 2008 and includes Kipukynnys by Otso Kautto, Yksinen (Loneholm) by Laura Ruohonen and Paniikki (Panic) by Mika Myllyaho. Also some arrangements are made to organize a staged reading in Madrid. Likewise, TINFO will publish an anthology of Finnish plays in Russian in 2008. The Russian publisher is Tri Quadrata, and the plays will be edited by Anna Sidorova. Up

		New Operas Terra Memoria by Kaija Saariaho premiered in Carnegie Hall Kaija Saariaho's new work, Terra Memoria, premiered by Emerson String Quartet in Carnegie Hall, New York, in June. Emerson String Quartet celebrates its 30th anniversary this season, and Carnegie Hall Corporation commissioned a quartet from Saariaho to honour the occasion. The quartet performed Terra Memoria in several concerts. The European premiere of Terra Memoria took place in Salzburg, Austria in August. ******* Daddy's Girl tells a story of a changing Finnish society A new opera by Olli Kortekangas, Isän tyttö (Daddy's Girl ) premiered at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in July. The opera has been commissioned by the Finnish Parliament and Savonlinna Opera Festival to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Finland’s independency. Daddy's Girl mirrors the lives of ordinary Finnish people to the social and political changes in the recent Finnish history. The libretto is written by Michael Baran and Olli Kortekangas. Up

		Upcoming festivals 2007-2008 Moving in November Helsinki, Oct 27 - Nov 4 Baltic Circle Helsinki, Nov 16-24 AMATEUR THEATRE FESTIVAL IN MIKKELI Mikkeli Jan 25-27 OULU CHILDREN'S THEATRE FESTIVAL Oulu Feb 18-23 FESTIVAL FLAMENCO DE HELSINKI February 2008 BRAVO Helsinki March 8-16 International Children´s Theatre Festival STUDENT THEATRE FESTIVAL Vaasa April 11-13 TAMPERE DANCE CURRENT CONTEMPORARY DANCE FESTIVAL April 22-27 CIRKO NEW CIRKUS FESTIVAL Helsinki May 7-14 RUUTIA! Dance festival for children Helsinki April 13-20 Baltic Circle Helsinki May 9-17 INTERNATIONAL PUPPET THEATRE FESTIVAL Tampere May 12-17 INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S THEATRE FESTIVAL Kuusankoski May 13-18 Up

		Finnish Theatre Information Centre Meritullinkatu 33 00170 Helsinki tel. +358-9-2511 2120, fax +358-9-2511 2125 tinfo(at)teatteri.org www.teatteri.org Director: Riitta Seppälä, Information Officer: Anneli Kurki, Information Secretary: Nina Jääskeläinen
		Subscribe - Unsubscribe - Give feedback: tinfo(at)teatteri.org