Konttinen stages Janhunen’s play this summer

The Konttinen Summer Theatre in Rovaniemi’s Angry Birds riverside park will stage this year Hölmöläisten Kyläsirkus (Fools’ Village Circus) written by Esko Janhunen, who too hails from the official hometown of Santa Claus.

The theatre team consists of the familiar Konttinen faces directed by Vaasa City Theatre’s Oiva Nuojua, who took the centre stage last summer by directing Pinocchio as well as for her roles as an adorable Alpo cat and Bell's rival Hosuan.

Hölmöläisten Kyläsirkus is the story of a group of malleable fools who decide to put up a circus of their own, when their travel to a real circus suffers from bad directions and an empty fuel tank. The play’s apparently dim-witted characters need only a dumpster’s worth of items and praise of friends, and soon the world’s best circus is erected. Of course, there are some naysayers, but the fools disregard their negativity and push on.

The play is about enjoying life and realising people’s sincere dreams, aspirations, and imagination.

The open-air Konttinen Summer Theatre started its operations in 1996, and has produced musical-themed performances every year to be enjoyed by the entire family. It has established itself as a major cultural tourism product in Rovaniemi every summer, reaching between 5,000 and 9,000 viewers annually of all ages.

Hölmöläisten Kyläsirkus will be performed 27 times from June 29 to August 6.

“We have had requests for, among other things, domestic performances in honour of the Finnish centennial, and we are glad that we can respond to these requests in Rovaniemi on the shore of the Kemijoki River, using written plays which correspond to the implementation of familiar beloved authors over the years,” Konttinen Summer Theatre Executive Director Hannu Friman told the Daily Finland.

The performance calendar as well as ticketing information will be published this month on the Konttinen Summer Theatre’s website as well as its Facebook page.