In the play Joutsenlauluni, the already retired actor wants to record on video the roles he played and also the ones he was not allowed to play. The original idea for the show came from me when I saw Georgi Poradzhanov’s documentary about one of Russia’s most famous actresses, Valentina Karavayeva. When the director of the documentary found her in the film, Karavayeva had already been dead for two weeks at home. Nothing was found in the apartment but a bed, a table and a chair and a film camera with cassettes. Over the years, Karavajeva had recorded Nina’s monologue ”I am a seagull” over and over again.

A theater actor’s job disappears when the performances end and when there is no more work, anxiety and depression strike many. Quite a few actors have died shortly after retirement. I myself have come across that problem as a relatively young director when I asked what was said to an old actor. We discussed the matter with Sipe and Liisa and as a result the wistfully funny tragicomedy Joutsenlauluni was born , which you can see on the 23rd of this month at 19:00 at the Vantaa theater. The play has received a lot of praise, but its performances unfortunately had to be stopped due to the corona virus. Aliisa has received a lot of calls and inquiries because the shows are continuing again.

There are still performances in Tampere on 8 February, 15 February and 22 February at 19:30 at Kulttuuriravintola Kives