The Honkanen brothers have performed all over southern Finland - sometimes the boys were cared for in an orchestra suite, sometimes Jorma Uotinen was the nurse

A man is sitting on a bed in dim lighting. Screenplay. — Actor Miro Honkanen is currently playing the role of autistic Raymond in Rauma theater’s Sademiehe.

Mika, Marko and Miro Honkanen are Actors and brothers. They are familiar to theater lovers all over the country. Since the parents were also actors: was there even a career option? Maybe not.

The memory of the first line

You can say that it all started in the warmth of the actors of the Pori theater and in the side corridors. They are a traditional place of care for theater children – or at least that was the case in the 1970s.

– In Montu, I had my own drum stool.

There are four people on stage in role-playing costumes that bring life to life. In the foreground are two men: one in a leather jacket, the other in a baseball cap. — Aimo Räsänen, Mika Honkanen, Miia Selin and Tuire Salenius are currently acting in the Reikäleipä play of the Tampere Workers’ Theater.

– I didn’t speak very well yet, I think the shit came a little later.

Honkaste’s boys’ evenings also included stage work. The family lived for some years in the theater caretaker’s apartment.

The man looks into the camera in close-up. A positive basic expression. Black and white personal photo. — – Work and life are theater. According to my mother, Jorma Uotinen used to take care of me, says Mika Honkanen.

And the theater became a profession for the trio of brothers, although no pressure was put on it by one side or the other. When the parents divorced, the father moved to work in Tampere.

Encouragement and direct feedback

All the brothers praise that Anja’s now 90-year-old mother always encouraged them in whatever they did.

– Mother’s advice was that you should go around the theaters and see different people. That’s what I did when I was younger, but now I’m stuck with the theater in Pori, says Marko Honkanen.

The man sits and leans on his walking stick. By the looks of it, he's in his own thoughts. — Actor Marko Honkanen performed the role of Inspector Palmu at the Pori Theatre, where he has worked for 23 years.

The family’s feedback on the performances has been direct.

Mika Honkanen laughs that he used to play the piano for his Kalevi father.

– Father said that the money put into the piano was wasted.

The magic of the theater does not fade

– I always say that I have attended the Saaristo theater school.

There are four people on the theater stage. In front, a man sitting on a chair and hugging his bag. — Actor Miro Honkanen did a lot of background work when he took over the role of the autistic Raymond.

Similar or different? The brothers admit that kinship unites. Not too much though. The entire trio has never been on stage at the same time. It’s difficult to get to see other people’s shows, because everyone is stuck in their own way.

However, the magic of the theater does not fade.

– There is a connection between the actor and the audience, which is quite a drug. From one evening to another, Marko Honkanen describes.