Under the North Star: Part 1

“Whether there are wars or anything else, one has to love. Get married and have children. This world would be lost because of the doings of those great people. We little people just have to try to keep this world standing.”

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 us. Alma guides the audience through the decades, through her experiences first as a mother and later as 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 the way Finns understand their own history and pain. Drawing on his background as a factory worker, Linna gave a face and a voice to tenant farmers and workers, bringing to light the experiences and motives of the Reds, the defeated side in the Finnish Civil War (1918). In Under the North Star, he challenged the official historical account, which had largely been dictated by the victors, the Whites.

“They always lose behind the threshing barn. From behind the threshing barn, we go off to 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 theatre’s own actors appear on stage. The performance is in Finnish, with English surtitles.