The theatre, the recession, and the used washing machines

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By Kirsikka Moring
     
      The small ad brought me awake with a jolt.
      "Drop your old washing machine off at the National Theatre - get a complimentary ticket to The Unknown Soldier".
      Whoa! Nothing for it but to drag the old washing machine out into the hall, lug it downstairs and stuff it into the back of the car and off to the theatre.
     
Director of the Finnish National Theatre Maria-Liisa Nevala, is it washing-day today, or why do you need this form of support from the public?
      "In the production of The Unknown Soldier, five washing machines [soldiers] get sledgehammered in each performance. On Wednesday we had our 102nd staging of the show, and in other words we've gone through 510 washing machines so far, and we are starting to run out of them. Tickets for the show are available until May, and there will be another ten performances in the autumn season."
     
So do I take this one here to Sergeant Rokka, or should I just go right ahead and attack the stage?
      "No, no, it should be brought to Itäinen Teatterikuja [the narrow street beside the theatre building in downtown Helsinki], after you've first told the box office about its arrival. The head stage manager will come and pick it up."
     
Where has the National Theatre got its washing machines from thus far, and what happens to them after they've been mashed up on stage?
      "We've been getting them from the recycling centres. After use, the machines are taken for metal recycling and crushing."
     
Did you have a lot of cancellations in the wake of the TV-broadcast of the show recently?
      "No, we didn't. A couple of groups cancelled and said that they'd already seen the show. But to my mind the TV-recording was rather different from what you can see on the stage."
     
Head Stage Manager Antti Aho, how many washing machines do you need? Have you already got a mountain of them out there in the alley?
      "We've only had one in so far. There have been about two dozen callers. The recession looks to be having an effect on the used domestic appliance market. People are no longer quite so willing to part with their old one and buy new. Basically we need 150 machines. If we don't get them now, then we will have to go in search of them from elsewhere in Finland."
     
Can one bring any kind of washing machine, or do you have some kind of size restrictions?
      "Anything goes. Except we are not taking tumble-dryers or industrial machines."
     
And can I get a ticket for the performance where my particular washing machine bites the dust?
      "Hmmm... that's a pretty big logistical problem, but I suppose we can always consider special requests."
     
     
The controversial production of the iconic WW2 novel by Väinö Linna opened in Helsinki in November 2007. Described by one reviewer as a Finnish version of the celebrated National Theatre of Scotland production Black Watch, Christian Smeds's Unknown Soldier has been playing to sold-out audiences ever since, despite - or perhaps aided by - much initial furore over the dramatisation. A TV version was screened in February of this year. Linna's book has also been seen on the big screen in two considerably more faithful film interpretations, in 1955 and 1985.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 27.3.2009


Links:
  What it´s all about: An article on Christian Smeds´s The Unknown Soldier in Agenda Magazine
  Finnish National Theatre, briefly in English
  The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna (Wikipedia)

KIRSIKKA MORING / Helsingin Sanomat
kirsikka.moring@hs.fi