Children's theatre happy to be marginalised

At 20, Totem produces low-budget theatre for children

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By Suna Vuori
     
      It is not necessarily a bad thing to be on the fringe. It is not always terrible even to be on the fringe of the fringe.
      The Totem Theatre is just that - a maverick group that travels around the country from its base in the Helsinki area bringing versatile art and art education to children. It has been doing that for 20 years already.
      "We go where the audience is", says Päivi Rissanen, one of the members who has been involved from the very beginning. "Sometimes we perform in very unappealing locations."
      "Sometimes one wonders if there is any sense to this. Preparing performances and meeting the audience is always worthwhile, but producing children's culture outside of the framework of funding legislation is plenty of hard work."
      "Children are remembered in speeches, but when push comes to shove, they always take second place."
     
At the Annantalo Centre of the Arts, members of the Totem group have strong opinions about the need for a new centre for children's culture, and for more stages - preferably in conjunction with Finlandia Hall, the National Opera, and the future Music Centre.
      "No way", shouts Arto Kahiluoto, who is preparing the next production of the theatre group. He thinks that the money should go to the artists, and not into the buildings.
      Actor Pasi Lappalainen agrees. "Many small groups are better than one big one."
      Members of the troupe see good sides to being on the fringe. They spend half of each year performing their work, and the other half doing other things. The light organisation that is accustomed to making do with little is mobile, and reacts easily to changing situations.
      "It also contains a big message", notes Salla Taskinen, one of the directors who has worked at Totem.
      "The performances really do differ from movies or productions by big theatres, which is something that occasionally has to be explained to some children", Päivi Rissanen says. "But they feed the imagination."
     
The everyday life of a small touring theatre is rough: wake up at six, hauling, travelling, and performing. Sometimes an entire school is the audience, and the stage is a school gym. At other times, it is a real stage at a real theatre.
      The next Totem production, Welli & Puuronen liemessä ("Gruel & Porridge in Hot Water") will be a special performance to mark the theatre's 20th anniversary. So far there have been more than 40 performances this year, mostly in Helsinki and Vantaa. Producer Anu Vihma laments the decision by the cultural authorities in Espoo, under which performances can be booked for Espoo schools only through the parents' organisations.
      "I believe that pupils need these kinds of collective experiences, and the very same cultural authorities in Espoo granted us subsidies for our anniversary tour", Vihma says.
      "When you defend your turf long enough, something will start to come", Rissanen notes.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 17.11.2006

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SUNA VUORI / Helsingin Sanomat
suna.vuori@hs.fi