My Oulu: New theatre collective is producing an English-language play in the summer
Iida Kannelsuo is the writer and director of the play Flowerstore, premiering at Hupisaaret summer theatre in early August. Photo: Sirpa Tarkkinen
Jaa sosiaalisessa mediassa:
Flowerstore is the first play by the new Oulu-based theatre collective Tulikärpänen. Auditions for the cast and crew of the English-language play will be at Valve on 25 April. Premiere of the play will be at Hupisaaret summer theatre in August.
Flowerstore tells the story of two different souls who meet in a flower shop and deal with their new emotions that arise there. The meeting place can be explained by the past of writer-director Iida Kannelsuo: she worked for a year in a flower shop in Munich and two years in the cosmetics department of the same shop.
Living abroad was also a reason to make a play in English.
”I noticed how little English-speaking culture there is, even in Munich, and I compared it to Oulu. I also wanted to make art for those who do not speak Finnish as their first language”, Kannelsuo says.
There will be plenty of flowers on stage, and for that the theatre group is working with artist Kerttu Korhonen.
The casting for the play will be held at Valve on 25 April from 5 pm to 7 pm. Kannelsuo emphasises the motivation of the applicants, because there will be a lot to learn.
The play is entirely in English, so the applicants need to know the language. The age limit is 18 years.
”Experience doesn’t matter that much, motivation is the most decisive factor”, Kannelsuo says.
The audition includes two hours of improvisation exercises to test the ability to react to emotions physically. The collective is also looking for crew to work on the play from costume designers to set designers.
Teatteri Tulikärpänen is a new collective from Oulu. In addition to theatre and improvisation performances it produces escape room and role-playing events and workshops. The core group of Tulikärpänen consists of Julia Latvala, Anna-Leena Salmijärvi and Maria Antola.
In the summer Tulikärpänen will also produce a Finnish-language children’s play Tales from Woodland for the Hupisaaret summer theatre.