The Artistic Team about Programme
10.5.2016
What is Happening Now?
In 2016 nobody seems to be able to say with certainty what direction we should take. The sense of being lost appears to equally affect politics, economy and people’s personal lives. The program of the Tampere Theatre Festival reflects on this confusion and searches for guidelines for the future.
Ryhmäteatteri’s Parliament III unmasks political games in our welfare society which is under threat of financial crisis. Maa-Tuska in turn is an incisive allegory of the dismantling of arts and culture. In the Republic of Happiness ironically poses the question of how an individual could live the good life in interaction with the community. The Phantom of Normality puts social issues directly inside the family.
A series of four contributions address the pressures that the intensified social situation place on individuals and communities. My Palestine illustrates an explosive political conflict from a personal perspective. Tar Baby speaks about personal experiences of racism through the medium of comedy. Transformations approaches the issue of gender plurality by means of documentary drama. Play Rape discusses the themes of domination and freedom of speech.
The classic theatre pieces The Broken Jug, The Metamorphosis, Cherished Disappointments in Love and The Grimm Book of Horror mirror the current situation from the perspective of previous generations, whereas the new generation plays Ruska and Hipsters put forward new world visions.
Furthermore, the international productions I’m Doing This for You, When I Die, Rose Rose Rose and A Series of Novels Never Written all ask in their own way: how are we meant to live? What is good life? What direction to take?
Welcome to the Tampere Theatre Festival!
Milja Sarkola, Miko Jaakkola, Mikko Roiha
Hanna Rosendahl