Today opens the 5th edition of the international theatre festival Baltic Circle. Until 17 May the programme offers an array of contemporary theatre performances and exhibitions from the Baltic region and central Europe. In addition this year the OFF Circle programme showcases contemporary productions from Finland.
One of the most surprisingly performance will be the the interpretation of Finnish drinking culture in Delirium by the group Plasma. The strongly anti-capitalist Swedish production Ebberöds bank by Teater Tribunalen will give some food for thought to the audience. And the photo exhibtion Miss Landmine Angola 2008, by Norwegian artist Morten Traavik, will not leave anyone indifference. Traavik will also present his new street theatre performance Remember Me.
The special programme OFF Circle offers twelve domestic performances. The popular Finnish director Kristian Smeds presents Radio Doomsday, in which Houkka Bros. give Luther a hard time in a three-hour live radio broadcast imitating a talk show. These performances will have English subtitles.
Completing the festival there are other activities like the three-day Fuck Off Festival Club, which will become a platform for Finnish and Estonian theatre professionals to perform with their bands. Also the international workshop for critics Mobile Lab for Theatre and Communication is organized as well as the open seminar about Finnish theatre reviewing today (held in Finnish).
For further information: www.q-teatteri.fi/baltic_circle
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME
Rimini Protokoll (Switzerland / Germany) CALL CUTTA IN A BOX | 9.5.-25.5. & 3.-15.6. Tue – Sun, starting times:15.00, 16.00, 17.00, 18.00, 19.00 & 20.00 | 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 | 9.5. and 10.5. at 19:00 as well as 11.5. at 15:00 | 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 | 14.5. at 19:00 | 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 | 15.5. at 19:00 | Koko Theatre | in French
Past is in Front of Ego was inspired by the research of Professor Rafael Nuñez 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 | 16.5. 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 | 17.5. at 19:00 | 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.
OFF CIRCLE PROGRAMME FROM FINLAND
AKSELI ENSEMBLE | Disco Pigs | 12.5. at 19:00 | 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 | 11.5., 12.5., 13.5. at 21:00 | 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 | 15.5. at 19:00 & 16.5. at 12:00 | 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 | 14.-16.5. 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 | 9.5. at 19:00, 10.5. at 12:00, 14.5. at 12:00, 16.5. at 19:00, 17.5. at 12:00 | 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) | 11.5. at 19:00 | 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 | 9. & 10.5. at 19:00 | 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 | 11.5. and 13.5. at 17:00 | 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 | 9. and 10.5. at 17:00 | 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 | 10.5. at 14:00, 11.5. at 14:00 & 19:00, 17.5. 14:00 | 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 | 13. and 14.5. at 19:00 | 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 | 13.5, 15. & 16.5. at 19:00 | 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.