This study analyses the Finnish National Theatre’s activities throughout the decades during which the post-war generation with its new societal and theatrical views was rising to power, and during which Europe, divided by the Iron Curtain, was maturing to break the boundaries dividing it. Pirkko Koski summarizes the activities of the Finnish National Theatre as a cultural factor and as a part of the Finnish theatre field during 1970s and 1980s. Alongside this he examines the general requirements, resources and structures for activity, including artists, places, geographical position, performances and the analysis on the societal conditions. This book will be of great interest to scholars and students of European theatre and history.

This collection of articles is devoted to the relationship between text and performance in contemporary theatre. In this volume, nineteen theatre and drama researchers from the Baltic countries, Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Russia and China discuss the results of their research into these issues in academic articles and essays. The book mainly focuses on the experience of the Baltics in the creation of theatrical texts, but it also provides a wider insight into the changing processes of world drama and theatre. Three sections of the volume provide numerous examples of the functionality of traditional texts in today’s theatre, as well as introducing the reader to new names in contemporary drama and the different models of practice in theatre companies. This book, with its rich collection of material and detailed analysis of different methods and experiences of contemporary theatre, is recommended for both theatre and drama theoreticians and practitioners.

This is the first overview of Performing Arts Collections in the Nordic Countries published in English from Nordisk Center for Teaterdokumentation. It is a register of archives, libraries, museums, theatres and institutions that hold performing arts records in their collections as well as a description of what the collections contain. Furthermore the main educational institutions are mentioned. As a foreigner to Nordic languages, it can be difficult to access Nordic performing arts archives and get an overview over the field. The ambition with this publication is to make the archives accessible to a larger group of scholars all over the world. For the first time in more than 40 years of publishing an overview over Performing Arts Collections in the Nordic countries (until now in Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish) and Iceland, we have included Greenland and The Faroe Islands. The performing arts tradition in these two countries still lack broader research. It is my hope, as editor in chief, that this inclusion will strengthen scholarly awareness of the performing arts history of both Greenland and The Faroe Islands in a broader context. We live in a digital era, with access to a great deal of digital or digitized records. Unfortunately, web links die out quickly. Thus, the editorial choice has been to link to the main web page of each institution. Not all institutions have an English web site, but with the descriptions in this publication, it is our hope that it will be easier to access the collections listed in it. The editorial team from Nordisk Center for Teaterdokumentation consists of Marjaana Launonen (Finland) Sigríður Jónsdóttir (Iceland), Benedikte Berntzen (Norway), Magnus Blomkvist and Rikard Larsson (Sweden), Birgit Kleist Pedersen (Greenland), and Anna Lawaetz (Denmark and The Faroe Islands).

This study explores the formation, establishment, expansion, and disintegration of stage design as a modern profession and a recognized artform in Finnish theatres. Drawing on oral or written recollections and thoughts of stage designers from different decades, the author asks how their artistic agencies, occupational identities, and theoretical self-understanding have been constituted. She analyses Finnish theatre history from new perspectives by shifting the focus from finished performances to largely unknown practices behind the scenes. This book examines the cultural institutions that have constituted the stage designers’ role and position, like the professional city theatre system, the craft union, and education. This research shows how modern and postmodern scenographic innovations have been assimilated to local contexts, and how material and cultural circumstances have reshaped the artistic practices. Without bypassing canonical trendsetters or hegemonic cultural mindsets, the focus is directed on the everyday grassroot level of stage design practices. Personal interviews with over 20 designers make visible an ample repertoire of unwritten knowledge stored in habitual ways of working and dealing creatively with the complex system of theatre making. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars in theatre and performance studies with a focus on scenography.