Under the North Star: Part 2

“Whether there are wars or anything else, you have to love. Get married and have children. This world will be destroyed because of the doings of those great people. We little people just have to try to keep this world going.”

The two-part Under the North Star is a powerful stage work about the fortunes of the Koskela family and our nation, seen and experienced through the eyes of Alma Koskela (Tuula Väänänen). It is a story of land, work and love that endures even when conflicts and wars sweep over everything. Alma guides the audience through the decades by way of her experiences as a mother and, later, a grandmother.

Under the North Star: Parts 1 and 2 is a new stage adaptation of Väinö Linna’s (1920–1992) three-part masterpiece of the same name (1959–1962). With his trilogy, Linna permanently changed how Finns understand their own history and pain. Coming from a factory-working background, Linna gave faces and voices to tenant farmers and workers, bringing to light the experiences and motives of the Reds, the losing side in the Finnish Civil War (1918). In Under the North Star, he challenged the official historical narrative, which had largely been dictated by the victors, the Whites.

“Behind the threshing barn, they always lose. From behind the threshing barn, we set off for rebellion or war, to be shot or to work. Wherever we happen to be going.”

The play is adapted and directed by Esa-Matti Smolander. Guest designers are set designer Helka Saariniemi and costume designer Iida Ukkola. Hair and makeup design is by Eija Juutistenaho, sound design by Jari Niemi and lighting design by Jukka Kyllönen. A total of 13 of our own theatre’s actors appear on stage. The performance is in Finnish, with English subtitles.