This is a Finnish puppet show. It is a story about the adventures of Siira, a shy Woodlouse, who goes to see a circus.

Artist/Company
Tehdas Teatteri [From Finland]
Date
Saturday, 21 September, 13:30-
Sunday, 22 September, 13:30-
*There will be a talkback after each performance.
Running Time
45 minutes
Venue
Shikano Historic Road Exchange Center “Child Village Dream”
Price
Adults: 2,800 yen*
under 18: 500 yen
Preschool-aged children: Free
*Including one drink voucher for use at the Café
Age Recommendation
Ages 3 and over
Language
Performed in Finnish with Japanese subtitles
Mobile subtitles
Mobile devices for Japanese or English subtitles available

©Jussi Virkkumaa

©Jussi Virkkumaa

©Jussi Virkkumaa

About the programme開く

We wanted to invite Finnish puppet theatre artist Iida Vanttaja to the BIRD Theatre Festival for the first time in a long time. Her gentle world was very popular at the BIRD Theatre Festival the last time she came. But this autumn, she is unable to come to Japan because of another project. However, we were introduced to the incredible puppet theatre artist Anna Nekrassova, allowing us to experience this sweet and heart-warming piece of work. Puppet theatre may seem to be for children, but it touches the hearts of adults, too.

Synopsis開く

Siiran sirkusmatka (“Woodlouse Goes to Circus”) is a puppetry show about a shy Woodlouse, who dares to go out of his hole only when he hears there´s a circus coming to the forest where he lives in. Starts an adventurous journey and a story about a shy creature getting more brave and finding its unique way of existing.

Cast / Staff開く

Based on a picture book "Siira's Circus Tour" by author Reetta Niemelä and illustrator Salla Savolainen

Direction and puppeteering: Alma Rajala

Puppeteering and singing: Anna Nekrassova

Puppet design and building: Laura Hallantie

Scenography and puppet building : Roman Chauzov

Composer: Roosa Halme

Light technique assisting: Jarkko Forsman

Producer: Jesper Dolgov

Message from the artist開く

Siira has been cycling for many years in different parts of Finland.

Now we are excited and proud to bring this small, shy but tenacious creature to Japan, a country we have never visited before!

Siira is originally the main character of a beautiful picture book by author Reetta Niemelä and illustrator Salla Savolainen. The vibrant book immediately inspired us to make it into a show. The original illustration in the book was done using a woodcut technique, and it inspired us to create the puppets and the set in the same aesthetic.

The author Reetta Niemelä often uses natural creatures that are not very familiar or cute to us humans as protagonists in her stories. Siira is a timid little bug - dango mushi in the Japanese language.

There is real empathy in imagining the colourful and fun adventures of this little creature, which usually prefers to hide under a rock if we meet it in the wild. Through Siira’s journey we want to tell the story of a shy protagonist, who doesn't need to be like others in order to be worthy.

Both Siira and we performers are full of enthusiasm and excitement for this amazing opportunity to perform at the Bird Festival!

Alma, Anna and Siira

Artists' Profile開く
©Jesper Dolgov

Alma Rajala

She is an original and multifaceted director and performer in puppet theatre.

Constantly seeking new horizons, she combines puppet theatre with other forms of art. She has created her own theatrical language characterised by ambiguous images with a strong atmosphere, in which philosophy meets material and the human body.

In one of her most recent projects, she created the concept and was the artistic director for the monumental artistic production The Book of Rooms which took place in Turku in August 2021. In this show, a group of 150 artists was assembled to create an immersive, experiential, and spatial performance based on Saila Susiluoto’s poetical work of the same name. In 2021, The Book of Rooms was awarded the state prize in performing arts by the Arts Promotion Center Finland, and Rajala herself received the prize of the The Finnish Critics’ Association.

Her other significant works include Extinction Paradise – Contemporary Puppet Theatre About the Fertility of Childlessness, with a scenario by Reetta Niemelä (Mekaaninen joutsen – Elävä Ensemble 2021) as well as Rapunzel – the Diva of the Tower, based on a text by Pipsa Lonka (Tehdas Theatre 2016).

One of the foremost contemporary puppet theatre artists in Finland, Alma Rajala also contributes to the development of the field by taking an active part in the puppet theatre network Aura of Puppets which has brought great recognition to this art form in Finland.

Since January 2023, she has been working on a five-year grant from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

©Jussi Virkkumaa

Anna Nekrassova

She is a freelance puppeteer from Finland. She graduated from Turku University of Applied Sciences, Puppetry Department in 2014 and took part in advanced special studies of puppetry and musical theater in the same University in 2019.

Nekrassova has been working in over 20 different productions of different scales as a puppeteer, performer, puppet maker and choreographer. She has been working for example as a performer in such productions as: children’s show and exhibition Friend by the river (Lajunen,2023), performance combining commedia dell'art masks and puppetry Wiches and Fools (Sillanpää,2023), Puppetry musical Kalevala (Höglund,2019), Puppet Theater Opera CROAK - Or the Unexpected Joys & Perils of Singing (Brashinskaya,2018) and children's show Siira’s Journey to the Circus (Rajala,2017).

In 2021 Nekrassova created her first solo piece Before Thumbelina as a director and performer/puppeteer.

Nekrassova combines different techniques of puppetry, dance and choreography, physical impression and singing in her works, turning them into solid magical performances. She is a luminous, charismatic and precise performer with great skills of manipulation.

Nekrassova is a member of Aura of Puppets which is an award-winning collaboration network for puppet theater professionals. She has been one of three artistic directors of Turku International Puppetry Festival TIP-Fest from 2015-2022.

https://anna-nekrassova.webnode.fi/

Grant開く

Finnish Institute in Japan TelepART Mobility Support