Exhibition A package with the words “Wuhan” arrived at the National Theater, and no one has dared to open the broadcast yet

Chubby, a fairly ordinary-looking postal package is on display in the middle of the exhibition, Molièren Tartuffessa next to the role costume used. In addition to the address labels, there is a large green label on the package that reads Wuhan.

The package sent on January 9, 2020 is still unopened.

Costume designer for the National Theater Tarja Simone happened to pass through the stage when the package had just arrived at the National Theater.

Simone says the package was in the middle of the stage, surrounded by people.

“Probably no one dared to go any closer to the meter, they wondered about it. And then no one opened the package. ”

A strip of masking tape attached to the side indicates that there are pine trees inside. The conifers were meant to be SpongeBob Westerberg to control To the blue whalewhich premiered on the Grand Stage of the National Theater on March 4, 2020.

“Our technical producer Jukka Vuokko had found the most spectacular conifers in China and ordered them. The order came in and it was rumored at the time that there was such a covid-19 epidemic in Wuhan: they were already worrying about the news. And then a couple of days later, a package that reads the big Wuhan comes to the house. ”

Replacement conifers were finally found in the hardware store ‘s Christmas sales clearance – and About the blue whale became one of the worst performances under the corona pandemic. It was shown only three times after the premiere.

Neon light letters a sentence formed on the ceiling of the museum says it: The audience was furious with admiration!

It is the name of the 150th anniversary exhibition of the National Theater currently on display at the Theater Museum and the real point in i, the cherry in the cake.

The sentence is a quote from a letter by Yrjö Koskinen wrote to his brother in an ecstatic state of mind on May 10, 1869. The charm had been born after seeing Koskinen Aleksis Kiven Lean premiere featuring a Swedish star actor Charlotte Raa took the lead role in Finnish.

The Finnish-language theater was born, and the audience, it was furious with admiration.

Three years later, in 1872, the Finnish Theater was founded, which later changed its name to the Finnish National Theater.

Now the history of that 150-year-old institution is handsomely on display at the Theater Museum, which also has a jubilee year. This year marks exactly sixty years since the City of Helsinki founded the foundation that maintained the museum in 1962. Its establishment was a gift to the 90-year-old Finnish theater at that time.

Theater Museum can still be found in its old location in the south wing of the Cable Factory, but with expanded and new forms. At the same time as the Dance House rose next to the north wing of the Cable, the Theater Museum underwent a renovation: the former maze is now replaced by more spacious and transformable spaces.

At present, in addition to the National Theater exhibition, an exhibition on the international history of Finnish contemporary dance is on display in the new premises. Deep movement.

The Arkadia stage, which has been a favorite of visitors to the Theater Museum since its opening in 1999, has not been lost anywhere.

Arkadia is an architect Carl Ludvig Engelin A scaled-down copy of the stage of a wooden Arkadia theater designed in the 1820s. There, the museum visitor can indulge in being taken by his or her own internal actor, director, or light master.

Behind the scenes you will find a dressing room with cupboards and sleighs bursting with signs, vests, animal and exciting characters suits, hats, jackets and dresses. The imagination immediately begins to think about what kind of awkward comedy or sad drama the clothes would cost.

The posters hanging from the prop rope hanging on the wall of the dressing room also show the reason why you can’t whistle in the theater.

Well, because in the pre-electric period, the scenes were made with ropes. The ropes were pulled by sailors who communicated with whistling. If you whistled at the wrong time in the wrong place, you might have a backstage in your head.

National Theater the docent has been used as the main source for the festive exhibition Kai Häggman the main work on the Main Stage, which was published in January. Not only the name of the exhibition has been taken from there, but also, for example, a quote raised on the wall in the exhibition, which says that the National Theater has not always been considered a very dynamic place: “A widespread saying urged those walking on the Railway Square to walk quietly so that no one would just wake up at the National Theater.”

The costume designer Tarja Simone, who is behind the concept and visuals of the exhibition, says that one of the things that made a special impression on her in Häggman’s book was that the book does not smile but tells not only about successes but also about failures.

Visually, Simone wanted to make the show fresh and open above all else. The solution emphasized that the National Theater – at least not anymore – is not a historical relic snoozing in a mysteriously dim atmosphere, but a marvelous art institution.

Mika Myllyahon During the CEO’s term, the theater has also opened up a lot to society, with the establishment of a tour theater, the Kantti Youth Theater and a wide range of co-operation projects, Simone says.

suits are at the center of the show – and of course bring with them a glimpse of the actor whose character the costume has been. Aku Korhonen, Tarmo Manni, Kyllikki Forssell… Karin Pacius, Sari Puumalainen, Kristo Salminen…

And of course also Tauno Palo, Ansa Ikonen: names for which history havina is louder than usual.

Attention cannot be missed on how skillfully the costumes are made. For example Ella Erosen Madamea gorgeous black-and-green dress worn in 1955: so beautifully embroidered and pleated.

It was the craftsmanship that Tarja Simone wanted to highlight.

“My own humility was further heightened when I saw how great costume designers, seamstresses, dressmakers, props makers, stage painters, carpenters and masks have always been in the theater. After all, theaters are one of the few places where handicrafts are in full force. ”

With Ella Erone’s dress, Simone also paid attention to the dimensions of the garment – and placed a twinkle in the corner of her eye next to Erone’s white Monark exercise bike.

“He reportedly treads it on his own balcony every day. Then you can see how fit Fit has been! ”

Scale models only a few were found in the theaters’ collections. From the directors of the National Theater From Kati Luka and Katri Rentolta fortunately came help. Relaxed was still found to be presented Surface repair model, all the parents he had just thrown away in the renovation move.

Lukka had kept more, and immediately in the foreground of the show he was admiring him Kristian Smedsin To an unknown soldier (2007).

A black-speaking stripped-down stage, washing machines hanging in the foreground, three crosses rise in the back stage: the scale model, built in a size of 1:25, looks amazingly authentic.

That’s how it should be, Kati Lukka says. “Personally, I always try to make the scale model as accurate as possible, because it is the most important tool for me. I’ve also found that the better I look right away, the better I get my ideas sold! ”

Now it is possible to marvel at the world of dugouts built under the wheel, which was only seen in the theater via video.

Smedsin Unknown was an admired and disapproved case all the way to the covers of the afternoon newspapers.

It is remembered, among other things, that washing machines were used to present Russian soldiers. The very first of them to be beaten is now standing at the show.

“When it was realized that this could really work, I immediately thought we were dealing with theater history now. Let’s call the Theater Museum to see if you accept, ”says Lukka.

National Theater the show would easily spend an entire day, or three. There are a total of three hours of recorded recordings for the theater staff’s video alone.

Texts revolve around the walls of the exhibition, shedding light on the history of the National Theater from the perspectives of publicity, equality and Finnishness, among other things.

Texts – and articles by, among others, Professor of Theater Studies From Hanna Korsberg –You can also find the museum director Raija-Liisa Seilon supply exhibition publication.

For Tarja Simon, the most important piece of the exhibition was the already mentioned interviews with the staff, which have been cut to be viewed on several TV screens.

“It was really important for me that everyone in the exhibition tells us at least their name and profession and what kind of really different routes they have ended up working at the National Theater. I remember thinking that without all these professional groups, the National Theater would not have existed for 150 years. ”

The audience was furious with admiration! exhibition at the Theater Museum (Kaapeliaukio 3) until the end of 2022.