After 15 years in Berlin, Mikko Roiha is a man of the provincial theatres. His Free Theatre concept has transformed the way theatre is performed.
The most famous theatres of the time were on offer, with the Ahaa Theatre, Tampere Workers’ Theatre and KOM Theatre touring secondary schools.
– I was bullied at school and I felt that suddenly the theatre made it a safe place for me.
At the same time, another feeling came into Roja’s mind. That theatre performances are part of a larger connection.
– I thought that they have been in this show all the way to Cuba, and now we have them here in Vantaa. And from here they go to Rovaniemi with this same performance. There was an understanding of some kind of global connection to all nations. That thought kept me alive.
– If you ask if theater is important, either as a viewer or as a creator, then yes it is.
Free theatre joins forces
Roiha became a theater director whose works have been seen in many regional theaters in Finland. He also developed a completely new Free Theater concept.
Its idea is to gather actors from different regional theaters and rehearse the performance in Berlin, Roiha’s second hometown. There is also often a premiere, after which the show travels to all the theaters that are involved in the project.
– Its philosophy is to bring theaters and creators together. The idea is that if all the cooperating theaters take it as part of their own repertoire, the life cycle of the show will be multiplied.
Several joint productions have been made in recent years, but cooperation has not always been easy, Roiha says.
– We are still not terribly good at sharing. That is, to share some idea, and it is no longer \”just ours\”. This is not very characteristic of Finnish culture.
On the positive side, the collaboration has created a new kind of theater in Finland.
– It has created a new kind of refreshment in the theater. Actors who are already tired of the audience in their own towns are fresh faces in another town. The whole idea of \u200b\u200bthis is to give us to each other, to give new possibilities.
*Watch the entire interview in the Half-Seven program:*