Baltic Circle International theatre festival

Festival Story:

The 2008 festival program includes a Swiss interpretation of Finnish drinking culture in the production Delirium by the group Plasma, the strongly anti-capitalist Swedish Ebberöds bank by Teater Tribunalen as well as the photo exhibition Miss Landmine Angola 2008 by Norwegian artist Morten Traavik which has caused a stir all over the world. In addition, Traavik also brings his new street theatre performance Remember Me to Finland.

Together with Helsinki Festival, Baltic Circle acts as the Finnish co-producer of the German-Swiss production Call Cutta in a Box by Rimini Protokoll. The production has been co-produced by eight European theatre organisations and is premiered in the course of this year in each of the co-producers’ hometowns. In Finland, Call Cutta in a Box has two series of performances, one in May during the Baltic Cirlce and the other in August during the Helsinki Festival. The performance is an intercontinental phone play which unites a Finnish spectator with a call centre operator located in India for one hour.

In addition to Rimini Protokoll and Plasma, more contemporary central European theatre is offered by the German group büro für zeit + raum. The group has existed for a couple of years and is now on the rise, its first production Wait here for further instructions having been awarded prizes by the 100° Berlin off theatre festival and the Kontrapunkt festival in Poland. Apart from Wait here for further instructions Baltic Circle also brings the group’s second production Past is in Front of Ego to Helsinki.

With its own program of Finnish contemporary performances the OFF Circle and its twelve productions offers the perfect opportunity to get to know the lively contemporary performance scene of Finland. The OFF Circle includes amongst others the new work Radio Doomsday which Kristian Smeds, probably the best known Finnish director, made for Houkka Bros and Koko Theatre’s Finnish-Estonian contemporary dance piece Man-Machine as well as Q-Theatre’s The Tin Drum with English subtitles.

The festival is organised by Q-Theatre, Koko Theatre and this year for the first time also by Smeds Ensemble. Smeds Ensemble is in charge of the three-day Fuck Off Festival Club. The club nights are a platform for Finnish and Estonian theatre professionals to perform with their bands.

In connection with the festival the international workshop for critics Mobile Lab for Theatre and Communication is organised as well as the open seminar about Finnish theatre reviewing today held in Finnish.

Festival Events:

International festival program 2008:

• Rimini Protokoll (Switzerland/Germany) CALL CUTTA IN A BOX, May 9 - 25, and June 3 - 15, Tue - Sun, starting times: 15.00, 16.00, 17.00, 18.00, 19.00 & 20.00, Venue—Kiasma, (in English)
  This intercontinental phone play which unites for one hour an Indian call centre operator with a spectator in Helsinki was realised as a co-production between eight European theatre organisations and the German-Swiss Rimini Apparat.
• Plasma (Switzerland) DELIRIUM, May 9 - 10, at 19:00 as well as May 11, at 15:00, Venue—Viirus, (in German, Finnish and English) simultaneous interpretation
  The source of Delirium’s inspiration was the Finnish bar culture which Plasma encountered during their visit at the Baltic Circle in 2003. Delirium brings the spectators to the other side of consciousness, to the continent which remains between last orders and locking up. The production creates a unique experience by moving between the boundaries of theatre, music and visual arts.
• büro für zeit + raum (Germany) WAIT HERE FOR FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS, May 14, at 19:00, Venue—Koko Theatre, (in German and French, Finnish simultaneous interpretation)
  In their first work which was born out of the research of time and space the German group discusses the philosophy of waiting. Only few words are spoken but communication takes constantly place through danced expression and with the help of physical theatre. Wait here for further instructions raises the question: what are we actually waiting for?
• büro für zeit + raum (Germany) PAST IS IN FRONT OF EGO, May 15, at 19:00, Venue—Koko Theatre, (in French)
  Past is in Front of Ego was inspired by the research of Professor Rafael Nunez from the University of California. Büro für zeit + raum researches in this highly artistic work the native American Aymara tribe’s concept of time where the future lies behind the present.
• NaBi (Sweden/Norway) REMEMBER ME, May 16, at 18:00 as well as 17.5. at 13:00 & 15.00, (in English)
  Remember Me is a crusade based on Swedish artist Joaquin NaBi Olsson’s dairies and travels to his birth country Korea and the USA. It takes a strong stand on the current situation of arts and society. It is a performance that does not embellish but speaks out for genuine human happiness.
• Teater Tribunalen (Sweden) EBBERÖDS BANK, May 17, at 19:00, Venue—Q-Theatre, (in Swedish, Finnish simultaneous interpretation)
  Ebberöds Bank is a purely political theatre performance which treats the problems of global market economy. Who’s controlling the markets? What happens to the human values when the word “value” becomes strictly synonymous with monetary value? In its artistic work Teater Tribunalen tries to expose, criticise and condemn political and economic power.
• Exhibition: Morten Traavik (Norway) MISS LANDMINE EXPO, May 13, at 16:00-17:00, May 14 - 16, at 17:00-19:00 as well as May 17, at 13:00-17:00, Venue—Kiasma Theatre
  Miss Landmine, a project produced and directed by actor-director Morten Traavik, triggered worldwide discussions about the problems caused by landmines. It breaks traditional ideals of beauty by defending the rights of disabled victims. The beauty contest Miss Landmine Angola 2008 was organised in Luanda on 4th April 2008, on the UN International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action. The exhibition Miss Landmine which is part of the Baltic Circle programme shows the different stages of the project as well as the competitors and the winners.

Off Circle Program From Finland 2008:

• AKSELI ENSEMBLE, Disco Pigs, May 12, at 19:00, Venue—KOM Theatre, Kapteeninkatu 26, (in Finnish)
  Akseli Ensemble’s Disco Pigs pulls the spectators into the enclosed realm of the two youngsters Possu and Kisu who feel neither empathy nor worry about tomorrow. The performance is a wild stride in the midst of the pains of growing up. Emotionality and insensitivity struggle as opposite extremes, love is eternal and friendship demanding.
• European theatre Collective, KinkyZone Finland, May 11 - 13, at 21:00, Venue—Restaurant Belly, Uudenmaankatu 16, (in Finnish)
  Etc’s absurdish, cabaret-like comedy is the sequel to the pilot project which was performed in Bucharest in 2005 / 2006 and since has reached cult status. The performance will have its premiere at the Baltic Circle.
• FISCHES NACHTGESANG, Das Fliegende Spektakel, May 15, at 19:00 & May 16, at 12:00, Venue—Klockriken Theatre, Erottajankatu 7, (in gibberish)
  This performance based on the texts of German nonsense poet Christian Morgenstern searches for theatrical expressions which don’t rely on language as the essential means of communication. Out of the world of silent movies emerges a dissident music spectacle which exploits not only movements, poetry and music but also lights and video art.
• HOUKKA BROS, Radio Doomsday, May 14 - 16, at 15:00-18:00, Semifinal, Urho Kekkosen katu 6, Wed and Thu in Finnish, Fri in English
  The third piece by Kristian Smeds’ Houkka Bros. gives Luther a hard time in a three-hour live radio broadcast imitating a talk show.
• KLOCKRIKE THEATRE, Soup Theater, May 9, at 19:00, May 10, at 12:00, May 14, at 12:00, May 16, at 19:00, May 17 at 12:00, Venue—Erottajankatu 7 b, (in Swedish/Finnish)
  Klockrike’s Soup Theatre unites artistic and culinary pleasures. Three groups of artists serve poetry and music with dinner and lunch.
• KOKO THEATRE, Kana (The Hen), May 11, at 19:00, Venue—Kokoteatteri, Unioninkatu 45, (in Finnish)
  In his play The Hen the indisputable father of Russian contemporary dramatic writing, Nikolai Koljada opens the doors to the wings of a small Siberian theatre where the arrival of a young actress causes the ruffling of many feathers. In this self-ironic play the borders between Siberia and Helsinki slowly start to blur.
• KOKO THEATRE, Man-Machine, May 9 - 10, at 19:00, Venue—Kokoteatteri, Unioninkatu 45, (in English)
  Already in the year 1997, Garri Kasparov lost against the IBM chess computer Deep Blue. For how long can artificial intelligence really challenge humans? Man-Machine unites dance, theatre, electronic music and video in a performance where humans and computers act both with and against each other.
• MAUS&ORLOVSKI, A Performance With an Ocean View (And a Dog) – II Memo on Time, May 11 and May 13, at 17:00, Venue—starting place: Kiasma, Mannerheiminaukio 2, _in Finnish or English—to be chosen)
  A Performance With an Ocean View (And a Dog) is the second part of Tuija Kokkonen and Maus&Orlovski’s Memo on time series. The performance’s points of departure are the weather, time and potentiality.
• OBLIVIA, Entertainment Island 1 - work in progress,May 9 - 10, at 17:00, Venue—Q-Theatre, Puoli-Q, Tunturikatu 16, (in English)
  Entertainment Island is a three-year project with which Oblivia researches popular culture and different kinds of entertainment. During the Baltic Circle Oblivia presents a work in progress version of the production which will have its first night in October. Entertainment Island 1 holds the magnifying glass over those structures on which popular culture and entertainment are based.
• PROJEKTORI-RYHMÄ, Elmo, May 10, at 14:00, May 11, at 14:00 & 19:00, May 17, at 14:00, Venue—Valtimonteatteri, Aleksis Kiven katu 22 (in Finnish)
  Sport unites and divides nations. In Projektori group’s interpretation of the well-known play by Juhani Peltonen, Elmo, dives into the world of sports fanaticism and the ecstasy of winning. The biggest part, however, is played by a sense of community.
• Q-THEATRE, The Tin Drum, May 13 - 14, at 19:00, Venue—Q-Theatre, Tunturikatu 16, (in Finnish, with English translation)
  The events of this play, based on the novel of Nobel-prize winner Günter Grass, take plays between 1924 and 1954. Oskar Matzerath is the main character and narrator who at the age of three decides to stop growing in protest against the absurdity of adult life. Q-theatre is the first Finnish theatre who is performing The Tin drum in Finland.
• TEATTERI NAAMIO JA HÖYHEN, Alice ad infinitum, May 13 and 15, and 16, at 19:00, Venue—Naamio ja höyhen, Korkeavuorenkatu 17 (in English)
  Teatteri Naamio ja Höyhen’s Alice takes the spectators on a trip to the Wonderland, mirrorland, into psychology and the parallel universes of our world.

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