If there are two methods we do come back to frequently, they are continuing education (through workshops) and long rehearsal periods. Given enough time and space, performances develop in a way that is not possible in a conventional, short-term rehearsal period.

Our own kind of ’daredevil attitude’ towards the impossible has so far given rise to a diverse range of challenging performances. Although each performance is its own distinct world, elements such as physicality, visuality, mystery, a non-psychological approach, and departure from conventional logic of plot are common threads, keeping us at a distance to the literary mainstream of western theatre.

Alice ad infinitum (2007) – a mirror-split exploration into infinite psychology, time and space, multiple universes, Wonderland, probability, permutations, perversions, personality, and transformation.

Here Speaks Elektra (2007) – in an airport, in the midst of affluence and possibility, Here Speaks Elektra is an abuse and exploitation of expressive mime, performance art, media art, and monologues. Here speaks Elektra continues the research of the Laboratorium of the Tragic Space, and its aesthtetic is founded on the ability of the body to open up another space, and the corporeal transposition of tragic situation and experience.

Hana to Shi / Flowers and Death (2006) – a butoh dance performance for a group of physical theatre performers, choreographed by Japanese butoh artist Ken Mai. Hana to Shi is inspired by the cycle of life. The world of the dead and the decomposition of human and animal bodies exists side by side with rebirth and the sublime beauty of living.

Rahan Seurakunta / The Congregation of Money (2006) – if money is the new God, Rahan Seurakunta is its congregation.

Suuri koneisto / The Grand Mechanism (2005 and ongoing) – inspired by the mechanism of power in the history plays and in all social worlds, Suuri koneisto is an evening of improvised Shakespeare. The rules are simple: do what you need to do to stay in power, or just stay alive.

Ofeliakone / Opheliamachine (2005) – the animate soul of ancient Greek chorus and the chilling emptiness of postmodernism meet in this physical tragedy of refusal and destruction. Part of the Laboratorium of the Tragic Space research.

Beyond the Red Room (2004) - Theatre of Dreams in two parts: a visual and suggestive performance dealing with our dearest hopes and subconscious nightmares. White Rooms, Blue Rooms, Red Rooms. Each room opens a different angle on reality. The characters are split, cut into pieces, transformed and spread around this wonderfully strange and dark universe.

King Ubu (2002) – A ’visually stunning and thought-provoking’ theatre performance about man’s everlasting lust for power – and his inevitable fall into the endless cycles of violence and murder. An elegant stage mobile of light-hearted cruelty. ‘Jarry was not an absurdist, he was a prophet’.

Quetzalcoatl – a Primitive Opera (2001) – A ‘convulsive and haunting’ piece of physical-ritualistic theatre, which was constructed according to Antonin Artaud’s original manuscript The Conquest of Mexico, and was faithful to Artaud’s notion of the ‘insurrection of the body.’

15 000 kg (1999) – A ‘merciless and megalomanic’ multi-theatrical event combining six essential historical styles of theatre: Theatre of Revelation, Theatre of Being, Theatre of Encounters, Theatre of Cruelty, Theatre of Images, and Theatre of the Sacred.

The Naamio ja Höyhen Theatre

Korkeavuorenkatu 17
00130 Helsinki
FINLAND
Tel. +358-9-2600 700 (office) / +358-45-6711 047 (mobile)

Email: hoyhen@nh.fi
Web: www.nh.fi

International contact:
Johanna MacDonald
Tel. +358 400 413343
Email: johanna.macdonald@nh.fi

Chairman of the artistic board:
Juha Sääski
Tel. +358 41 5116867
Email: juha.saaski@nh.fi