Theatre in FinlandA Mosaic of history and other small parts
The principle features of Finnish theatre from 1999-2002
“Small is beautiful”. These were the words used by Vivica Bandler when in 1989 she became artistic director of the Tampere International Theatre Festival, an organisation rapidly running out of money. At the beginning of the 1990's the festival had to be content with showing small-scale visiting productions involving only a few actors and it was from this that the audience had to experince the wonder and greatness of the theatre. This was not a conscious directive, rather it was an attempt to turn the inevitable to the festival's advantage. Nonetheless this was something to be repeated several times in the years to come. The effectiveness of these words is something which has stayed in the minds of those groups of actors who, at the beginning of the 1990's, were forced to be extremely frugal with production costs and to concentrate far more on ideas and concepts than on the scale of performances.
The Golden Age of Set Designers
There have been no drastic changes in Finnish theatre in the last few years and many people have accused theatres of being unimaginative and dull. Despite this the Finnish theatre-going public has remained faithful to theatres throughout the country. The huge popularity of many fine, well-known older actors is testament to this. It is because of these actors that theatres have been able to count on the success of individual plays and, indeed, of entire seasons. One example is Ronald Harwood's Quartet at Helsinki City Theatre in spring 2002 starring Kyllikki Forsell, Ritva Valkama, Pentti Siimes and Lasse Pöysti. The actor Esko Salminen has been a crowd-puller in the Brecht play Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti (autumn 2001) and in KOM theatre's production of Festen (spring 2002).
It is essential to consider the factors which affect the appeal of programming and individual productions in larger theatres. In addition to musicals and hilarious farces, which have traditionally always attracted large audiences, a form of expression based on the power of visual images has grown in popularity. The work of a skilled scenographer is primarily called for in showy musicals and historical costume dramas. During the years of financial difficulty at the beginning of the 1990's the work of set designer Kari Junnikkala and Kaija Salaspuro, who often collaborated on productions, attracted large audiences to the main stage of Lahti City Theatre. Starlit skies (as in the production in Lahti of Juha, directed by Ensio Suominen and Eija-Elina Bergholm) and ice rinks seem to present no problem for those with a passion for new theatrical techniques, and after all, it is not their fault if the narrative is upstaged by the visual design.
Set design and costume have been given ample opportunity to grow and develop in larger theatres. Musicals and large-scale spectacular productions, which regularly sell out at theatres, have made particular use of these areas of expertise. Such productions require great numbers of people and enormous budgets and have all but sidelined the passion for more experimental theatre. Programming with more depth and which challenges the traditional approach to form is more than likely to be found in smaller theatres or on smaller stages.
There are many recent examples of exceptional productions on a similar scale to these routinely performed and now somewhat hackneyed musicals. An example of one such production is the opera Paavo Nurmi, directed by Kalle Holmberg at the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki during summer 2001. Paavo Haavikko wrote the story of the legendary long distance runner in the libretto and also set it in a wider historical context. The performance, produced by Helsinki City Theatre, worked extremely well in the enormous arena regardless of the rain which took the actors by surprise on several occasions.
The Trolls' Return
In recent years there has been a clear shift of focus in the programming of ‘the classics’. William Shakespeare's great examinations of power have become surprisingly rare sights on the Finnish stage. A decade or so ago there were several productions of Macbeth and King Lear across the country reflecting the cold war era and the use of weaponry. On the other hand there are several examples of more light-hearted, comedic Shakespeare plays in recent programmes and Romeo and Juliet is not longer conspicuous in its absence. The great plays of Anton Chekhov, plays which were once the mainstay of many theatres' repertoire, have also become rarities. Only one of the theatres in the Helsinki area (Teatteri Takomo) has taken on the challenges of Uncle Vanya and in doing so found relations between the play's characters and contemporary society in a sensitive and powerful way.
Conversely the stern troll of Nordic drama, the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, has assumed an important role in a time when we are once again forced to question the problematic identity of the individual and to find solutions for it. Nora's solution to this problem in A Doll's House has appealed to audiences in a production in Lahti City Theatre (dir. Cilla Back, 2001) and in a version in the Finnish National Theatre (dir. Katariina Lahti, 2002), which considers the problems of men and women's duty from a modern-day egalitarian perspective. The small Takomo Theatre got to grips with Hedda Gabler, nowadays somewhat rarely performed, in a production which sidelined the conventional interpretation of Hedda as the portrait of a diva and instead brought her cruelty acutely to the fore.
A Portrait of Modern Family Life
Old Hollywood musicals received many an outing in Finland during the end of the 1990's, their sunny optimism bringing a little light to the needs of an audience living in hardship or otherwise in low spirits.
In line with this, a new image of the relationship between family and environment has arisen. In Finland half of all marriages end in divorce, which indicates that ‘the family’ is in a bad way. The problems faced by families and children have begun to appear on stage as side issues or central themes in plays.
This issue was dealt with very powerfully when KOM Theatre performed the play Aina joku eksyy (Someone always goes astray), written and directed by Reko Lundán, and the year later its continuation Teillä ei ollut nimiä (Can you hear the howling?); both productions toured widely throughout Finland. Each play deals with various stages of a family's life, focussing on a household troubled by the parents' problems and the difficulties experienced by the children as they grow up. Both plays employ a retrospective flashback technique and the story is told in short, skilfully written fragments of dialogue. The humour on the surface of these plays initially hides the stark reality which both plays hold within them. The generation of people raising children during the 1960's is given critical examination with all its self-absorbed ideas, its freedom, everything.
Reko Lundán is one of the greatest surprises of recent years. In addition to being a gifted playwright he is also a skilled, intelligent and analytical director (Death of a Salesman at Helsinki City Theatre and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Finnish National Theatre) and is nowadays one of the three directors of Tampere International Theatre Festival.
History on the Stage
The last few years have also seen Finnish historical dramas trying to attract an audience, which has perhaps not fully relinquished its rather simple Finnish identity in favour of a rather more colourful EU nationality - other than the change to the single currency. Various periods of history have been put on the stage in lavish spectacles (for example Laila Hietamies' plays at the Finnish National Theatre set amidst the romanticism of Tzarist Russia) or following the story of Finnish cultural figures (Vanhempieni romaani (My Family's Novel) at Lahti City Theatre in 2001). In both of these the audience is taken on something of a sight-seeing tour back in history, primarily to the time of wealth, flamboyance and exuberance. Once again set and costume designers (Ralf Forsström, Kari Junnikkala, Kaija Salaspuro) came into their own in these productions.
A production which also belongs to the group of historical spectacles is TTT-Theatre of Tampere's centenary celebration production of Maija Lassila's Tulitikkuja lainaamassa (Borrowing Matches). This play had previously been considered merely a genial folk comedy. In this production it opened up into an expansive portrait of the Finnish temperament and being, Kalle Holmberg's direction depicting the various stages in the country's history in the shadow of death, yet within the context of the comedic picaresque journey. The presence of death was made concrete in the red, earthy set depicting the yard, on to which were painted imitations of Hugo Simberg's highly original and captivatingly primitive paintings.
A production both interesting and radically different in its mentality to others in this historical series was performed at Helsinki City Theatre in spring 2001. The Swedish director Frej Lindqvist directed his own play Armfelt, a drama about the relations between Finland, Sweden and Russia. The performance was both charming and intelligent, gently playing with historical themes. It was at once a thoroughly enjoyable farce, where people fought battles in caricatured ballet steps, and a perceptive interpretation of the various turns of history.
Artistically speaking, Finnish theatre has not tried to cross the mine field that is ‘biographical theatre’ and the unavoidable sense of parody which comes with that. In a country, in which every single public monument sparks a passionate debate for or against modern art, successful young artists are tolerated alongside such people as old Field Marshall Mannerheim, General Airo and other political figures in recent history. Indeed, the springboard for many romanticised historical plays is often a genuinely fascinating personal history (for example Elisabeth Järnefelt in My Parent's Novel) or the life and times of a well-known political figure and an explanation of their list of misdemeanours (the play Isä (Father), which dealt with the life of Ahti Karjalainen at Helsinki City Theatre in autumn 2001).
Ambitious Dramatisations
In recent years extensive works of literature have provided new challenges for dramaturges. One example of this was the performance at Hämeenlinna City Theatre of Olli Jalonen's enormous novel Yksityiset tähtitaivaat (Personal Heavens) in a dramatisation by Marja Louhija. It charts the story of a small, everyday person and their role amidst the battles and idealogies of the 1900's. The novel encompasses the struggle of one person against the idealogies of early 20th century St. Petersburg in the grip of hunger and the freezing cold and depicts the development of a family over three generations in different parts of the world.
Turku City Theatre managed to produce a stage version of Marquez' One Hundred Years of Solitude. The dramatisation by Ilpo Tuomarila, directed by Maarit Ruikka, succeeded in bringing the colourful and mystical world of Marquez' text to the stage.
The musical interpretation of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina at Lahti City Theatre was an enormous event with all its numerous costumes and its huge international cast. This production, created and directed by Jotaarkka Pennanen, represents a first in many ways. An enormous EU grant, the size of which has never been seen in Finland before, was awarded for the realisation of this project. Many artists from the St. Petersburg area collaborated on the project: the music was composed by Vladislav Uspenski and the libretto was written by Tatjana Kalinina. Both the dance group and the choreography was produced in Russia and the actors were Finnish. The production was performed during a short and intense autumn - spring period 2001-2002. The commercial spirit of the production was accordingly built upon: the audience could purchase a series of Anna jewelry, local restaurants served up an Anna Karenina menu and in the interval Anna pastries were served.
An Abundance of Finnish Plays
One of the most surprising phenomena during the past three years has been the growing popularity of Finnish plays. During 2000 there were several dozen premières of new Finnish plays in theatres around the country, in both small theatres and on the smaller stages in large theatres. The desire to examine questions on the nature of Finnishness can be seen in the search for images of national identity brought about largely with the help of dramatisations based on Finnish literature. Also unprecendented was the fact that the most popular new plays moved on to other theatres after their premières. In previous years even the most popular plays had always remained in a single theatre.
The image of Finnish dramatists has also changed during the past few years. Young playwrights are generally professional dramaturges in their own right and welcome the opportunity to direct their own work. The Direction and Dramaturgy department of the Finnish Theatre Academy seems to have developed into a school for playwrights as well. Some of the very best young dramatists have graduated from the academy, including Juha Siltanen, Laura Ruohonen, Juha Lehtola, Michael Baran, Reko Lundán, Anne Koski and Kristian Smeds.
Of course many playwrights come from places other than the Finnish Theatre Academy. However, they often experience difficulty in forging contacts with theatres. To help young writers KOM Theatre has developed a completely new way of working. KOM-Text looks through scripts and even synopses of work in progress. Various dramaturges and directors read through the material and give feedback to the writers. Promising ideas are developed first as rehearsed readings and then into finished productions. There are many theatres involved in this process of text development other than KOM.
Confidence in the ability of Finnish plays to attract a substantial audience is not a new phenomenon amongst smaller theatres in Finland. The first theatre to make a decision to perform only new Finnish texts was Ryhmäteatteri (The Group Theatre) towards the end of the 1980's. At the end of the 1990's many other theatres began to follow suit, realising that without serious dedication to new Finnish drama there would soon not be any at all. In different parts of the country, for example in Oulu, there were attempts to make contact with young writers, whilst in Lahti the theatre Vanha Juko was founded, a theatre which looks exclusively for new Finnish drama. These theatres encountered the same problems as those so-called ‘groups’, who had already established their position and who had long since supported and in many ways forged the road for new Finnish drama.
The furore over Jouko Turkka's play Osta pientä ihmistä (Buy a Small Human) even before its première, which led to rehearsals at KOM Theatre being discontinued, was in a league of its own. People feared that the play had gone beyond the limits of decency by portraying a living person, the director of Nokia Jorma Ollila, in a potentially detrimental fashion. Those who bothered to read the play or who managed to see a production by the Estonian Von Krahl Theatre will have noticed that the way in which the play deals with the multi-millionaire, a leading figure in the mobile communications industry, revered by young financiers, in fact reflects in an exaggerated and even surreal way the financial situation in Finland today and has nothing to do with the real life or persona of the person in question. The play has still not been performed in Finland.
In recent years Finnish theatre and plays have made their way beyond the language barrier and on to international stages. Laura Ruohonen's play Olga has been translated into several languages and was performed to great critical acclaim at the Traverse Theatre in Scotland.
In a class of their own are the plays written and directed by Kristian Smeds both in Takomo Theatre and more recently in Kajaani City Theatre. Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, the play Jumala on kauneus (God is Beauty) depicting the destiny of a Finnish artist and his most recent play Huutavan ääni korvessa (One Crying in the Wilderness), which looks deep into the Finnish soul, have been characteristically austere physical performances, almost frightening in their primitive energy. The deeply human ‘message’ of these plays hits home despite language barriers - this explains the growing demand for them at international theatre festivals.
Battling for Money
Everyone has had money troubles, both the affluent and the poor. All arts organisations, including theatres, have felt the strain of financial demands more than ever before. This has been a time when the pressure to reduce public funding has grown considerably.
A general trust in continued support is still very strong, after all Finland is a country which prides itself on its support for artistic life. The law in Finland guarantees the existence of theatres as well as orchestras, museums and libraries. Recent years have seen an increase in the pressure to implement strategies to save money and thus theatres have been presented with unrealistic targets.
A law regarding theatres and orchestras, passed in 1993, supported the Finnish theatre network during the financial crisis of the mid 1990's in a special way. State funding alone is not enough to support the running of theatres. The provinces, of which there are so many and which already suffer from the difficulties involved moving about within the country, have been forced to choose between the demands of arts organisations, education, teaching institutions and health care. In the light of this many small provinces were forced to cut funding to theatres on the premise that theatres had the ability to fund themselves through box office takings. There followed a heated debate, in which it was argued that art can serve as an attraction to these very provinces and thus regenerates the money spent on it - with interest - straight back into the local council coffers. It was because of this that people began to examine and count up all the influence art had on work, tax interest and other aspects of public funding.
At the same time many of those who were not included in the theatre law condemned the law strongly and demanded that it be revised as it only supported large theatre organisations, based on the number of staff, and thus made size a virtue in its own right. New smaller theatres, which the younger generation was founding in rapid succession, had no chance of achieving the criteria outlined for state support and were forced to settle for a meagre grant at the discretion of the funding body. These groups have become concentrated in a few large towns, generally towns with a university, where there is a wide audience and where television and cinema can offer actors often essential work opportunities.
It often feels as though each successive generation needs a group of theatres of its own as a guarantee of their existence and as a channel for their feelings. It will not be long before many of them will have established themselves and will begin to demand state funding. Even in Finland, which considers itself a ‘theatre country’, people have begun to wonder how the state can fund all of these theatres without having to make cuts at one end of the scale or the other. And which end should that be? Should we shut down a bad theatre in the far north, and yet who is to say what is quality theatre and what it not?
RIITTA WIKSTRÖM
Theatre critic
Translated by David Hackston
Published in The World of Theatre 2003