S.O.S. - A Pacifist Intervention in Helsinki 1929. The Intercrossing of Modernism and Socialism

Authors

  • Mikko-Olavi Seppälä University of Helsinki.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v28i1.23971

Keywords:

workers’ theatre, political theatre, Hagar Olsson, S.O.S., pacifism, Koiton Näyttämö

Abstract

The article examines the co-operation between a (Swedish-speaking) modernist author with a (Finnish-speaking) workers’ theatre in 1920s Finland. It shows how modernist aesthetics and the socialist movement met in the practices of the workers’ theatres and what dangers lay in this combination. I am especially interested in the moments when the radical intelligentsia - artists, writers, and theatre directors - joined forces with the workers’ theatres in order to create political theatre. Political turmoil was about to occur when Hagar Olsson’s play S.O.S. premiered in Helsinki in March 1929. The venue was the Koitto Theatre (in Finnish ”Koiton Näyttämö”), a semi-professional workers’ theatre run by a socialist temperance association, already known for its performances of German expressionist plays. In my paper, I ask what goals lay behind the co-operation between Olsson and Koitto – and what came out of it?

Author Biography

Mikko-Olavi Seppälä, University of Helsinki.

Mikko-Olavi Seppala (b. 1975) defended his doctoral thesis on the history of the Finnish workers’ theatre in 2007 at the University of Helsinki and qualified for the title of Docent in theatre research in 2010. He has published nine monographs including a book on Finnish theatre and drama history (with Katri Tanskanen, 2010). In 2014-2015, he was acting professor of theatre research at the University of Helsinki where he is also currently employed as university researcher. In his ongoing, larger project, Dr. Seppala examines the history of political theatre in Finland.

References

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Published

2016-06-22

How to Cite

Seppälä, M.-O. (2016). S.O.S. - A Pacifist Intervention in Helsinki 1929. The Intercrossing of Modernism and Socialism. Nordic Theatre Studies, 28(1), 39–49. https://doi.org/10.7146/nts.v28i1.23971

Issue

Vol. 28 No. 1 (2016): Crossing Borders

Section

Articles thematic section

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