My Oulu: Oulu Theatre serves international audiences – Kinky Boots is the first show on the main stage subtitled in English
You can watch Oulu Theatre's Kinky Boots musical also with English subtitles with a phone application. Photo: Kati Leinonen / Oulu Theatre
Jaa sosiaalisessa mediassa:
Oulu Theatre has started subtitling the majority of their performances on the main stage in English. The subtitles work on a phone application.
Oulu is an international city, and thus the Oulu Theatre wishes to serve customers who do not speak Finnish better than ever. The theatre strives to produce English subtitles for all performances on its main stage.
The first subtitled show is the brand-new Kinky Boots musical. Perillä – Destination, which will premiere in April, will also be subtitled.
The subtitles are accessed with the Subtitle Mobile application which can be found on app stores. Users will input a code for the performance and subtitles will appear on screen. A limited number of borrowed phones for subtitles are available at the theatre.
Oulu Theatre will also have two theatre tours in English during this spring, on February 28 and May 23. An English version of the Oulu Theatre website has also been published.
The CEO of Oulu Theatre Anu-Maarit Moilanen says that there has been some demand for subtitles, but the innovation derives from a strategic choice: the Theatre wants to serve everyone living in the area.
“As society changes, service needs change as well”, Moilanen states.
The coming European Capital of Culture year also affects the matter. In January of 2026, the Sámi opera Ovlá premieres in Oulu Theatre and is expected to attract international and especially Nordic audiences, as well as the other forthcoming big productions of the theatre in 2026.
“The European Capital of Culture year develops all of us local operators and sets new goals for us. We will receive more and more international audiences, but it’s exactly as important that we serve the diverse audiences already living here”, Moilanen explains.
Subtitles are launched with two shows during this spring. The service can be extended in the future, but it might not be possible to subtitle every show.
“Subtitling is considered case by case. As technology and implementations develop, I think this will go further. Of course, there are copyright questions, and we have some shows coming in the fall that cannot be subtitled at all – they are so spontaneous”, Moilanen says.
“Subtitling all main stage performances is our goal and I believe that we can offer more language options in the future.”
