Playwrights are afraid that new works will be lost to dramatizations - another novelty play premiered in Kuopio

In the aftermath of Corona, theaters have seen plenty of first-run domestic performances. However, playwrights are worried that the number of orders for new play texts will decrease in the future.

Rehearsals for the play that just premiered are underway. Kuopio artist Juho Rissanen, born in 1873, painted realistic pictures of ordinary people. Getting Rissanen’s story to the stage has been a long project.

– I had seen some of Juho’s paintings, but I didn’t know how amazing his life story is. I was immediately convinced that this had to be made into a tragicomedy, says Auvinen.

Ilkka Pentti at Kuopio City Theater's Painter - Juho Rissanen's rehearsals. — Kuopio City Theater’s long-time actor Ilkka Pentti got to immerse himself in Juho Rissanen’s personality. According to Pent, Rissanen’s boots are big. However, the good thing is that Rissa has never been interpreted on a theater stage before. – Rissanen looks exactly the way I make him, Pentti says.

\”It’s hard to get new texts into theaters\”

Kuopio’s city theater has had a lot of premieres recently, including the *Maalari – Juho Rissanen* play.

According to Sunklo, the union of Finnish playwrights and screenwriters, there have been many premieres in theaters, i.e. premieres of new plays, after the corona pandemic subsided. Sunklo annually awards an award for the best original play. Last year, more premiere texts were sent to the competition than before.

However, the concern is that the situation will change.

Novelty plays challenge and risk

According to Vainio, for example, theatrical adaptations of novels are not a bad thing in themselves, because they also bring work to playwrights.

The fear is that new play texts will be overshadowed by dramatizations.

– Original texts are needed so that completely new works can be brought to the stage and playwrights can bring their own ideas and stories to the stage.

The director of the Kuopio City Theatre, Tommi Auvinen, pictured at the Kuopio City Theatre. — According to Tommi Auvinen, the director of the Kuopio City Theatre, a versatile program is the secret of the theater’s success. In his opinion, theater is a service profession and there must be something for everyone in the repertoire.

According to Tommi Auvinen, new plays for the theater are always a challenge and a risk. However, for him, the most important tasks of the provincial theater is to highlight local issues.

Rissanen, unlike his contemporaries, spoke Finnish and came from a real poor family.

– I believe that this story will interest people. Juho made an effort from poverty to European metropolises and spoke French with a Savolish accent. A nice feature about him was that he never forgot his Savoie roots.

\”The world is full of great plays\”

– The expectation is that public subsidies will not increase in the future, and then the share of own box office revenues will be emphasized in the theaters’ revenue generation.

However, in Paavolainen’s opinion, new Finnish plays have a solid place in theaters.

– I believe that Finnish theaters want to do premieres of Finnish plays and Finns love them. They are not going anywhere.

Actors in the rehearsal of the play THE PAINTER – JUHO RISSANEN at the Kuopio City Theater. — The villagers of Nilsiä become models when Juho Rissanen paints an altarpiece for Nilsiä’s new church in the early years of the 20th century.

According to Tommi Auvinen, the director of the Kuopio City Theatre, the theater even had too many opening performances last season.

– Now I believe that I have found the right balance for it. There must be standard performances, but on the other hand, the world is full of great plays. It’s not good to forget them either.