R.E.A.D #10 festival - Day 3
Doors open 18:15; Reading drama performance 18:30; Action & Rest- Spoken Word with HPC 20:00
Post Theatre Collective Studio • Pengerkatu 11 a 3, 00530 Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
R.E.A.D#10 festival Helsinki
This year the festival takes place on 16th and 19th of October at Post Theatre Collective Studio in Pengerkatu 11 a 3. The 10th edition of the festival brings plays from various geographical locations and will be performed in English.
R.E.A.D is a yearly reading drama festival organized in Helsinki by Post Theatre Collective. The festival which was established in 2014 by David Kozma is an arena that offers the opportunity to get acquainted with plays that have not been performed in Finland before.
R.E.A.D brings together the Finnish audience and local and international theatre makers including playwrights, actors, and directors in an intimate environment. The festival gives a grassroot stage to plays that might not have the possibility of having a stage in Finland, with the hope to influence and diversify the program of the bigger theatre stages in the country.
PROGRAM
October 18
18:30
Keren Klimovsky: My Dad is Peter Pan
Directed by Fabian Silen
With Petra Heinänen, Agnes Kaszas, Janne Suutarinen, Pirkko Uitto, Pyry Äikää.
Danny is 7-years old, and his dad is an unemployed actor. He’s as charming as he is carefree, and while Danny’s mother works 3 jobs, his dad may forget to give him a sandwich to school or even to send him off to school in his pajama pants. Danny is ridiculed by his classmates. It hurts. But then dad reveals his secret: he is, in fact, Peter Pan. He only looks like an adult – it’s easier this way.
Little Danny is thrilled. That explains a lot. Dad’s disappearances (he visits Neverland, of course), his strange behavior (he’s a little boy trapped in a man’s body), not really contributing to the family’s budget (what is money for Peter Pan!), mom’s anger (she used to be Wendy, but she grew up and “went bad”).
Dad is good at convincing. A couple of jokes, and a boring teacher turns into a laughing young woman. He knows how to conquer one’s fear with the help of a magical potion, and his pockets are filled with what seems like magical dust. His gives inspiring speeches about flying, even though he’s not in a hurry to go on with the practical side and give Danny the flying lessons Danny wants so badly.
The parents break up, though Danny is certain that they still love each other. Dad’s appearances in Danny’s life become all the more infrequent, and then one day…
This story is told by the grown up Danny, a Danny who has a different perspective on his past. He plays it in his memory time and again just for the sake of one moment - a moment he’d never be able to change or reverse. Hurt by dad’s betrayal, Danny once accused him of lying, and let him know he does not any longer believe in this whole “Peter Pan bullshit”. His dad jumped on the window sill, opened the window wide open…
Mom told Danny that the ambulance never found the body. Danny was convinced that his dad just flew away. The adult Danny would like to continue believing in that.
Keren Klimovsky is a multilingual playwright and scriptwriter who has been residing in Sweden since 2012. She received her BA in theater arts and comparative literature from Brown University (Providence, RI, USA) in 2008. In 2014 she has defended her doctoral thesis in Slavic Studies from the same university.
In 2012, Klimovsky has co-founded the KEF Theater company (Malmo, Sweden) with the musician and performer Elias Faingersh. Up to date the company has produced nine shows, which have received both national and international acclaim including an Off-Broadway run of “A Solo from the Pit”.
Klimovsky’s plays have been staged all across Russia (prior to February 2022), as well as in Ukraine, Israel, Lithuania, Latvia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
20:00
Action & Rest – Spoken Word with Helsinki Poetry Connection
As a departure from reading drama, Helsinki Poetry Connection presents an engaging serving of live stage poetry with two dazzling performers: Tania Nathan and Aika Huusko.
Tania Nathan is a post-colonial artist working in themes of identity, memory, joy and rest. She is based in Helsinki and Malaysia and through spoken word and short stories puts forward the idea of queer and BIPOC joy as the ultimate form of rebellion. Right now, she is curious about radical rest, and other forms of resistance.
Aika Huusko is a poet, an artivist and a translator, whose poetry is a mix of metaphysical and socially engaged themes. In 2012 they graduated with MA in writing poetry from Kingston University Writing School and their publications include Freshman mother (KWS, 2012), DIRT (Andel, 2015), Liike olen (Haaras, 2022) and Colombian nadaism poetry anthology Kerrostalo sateessa (Aviador, 2022). Aika has produced and performed at various spoken word events in London, Bogotá and Helsinki. They´re also a long-standing board member of Helsinki Poetry Connection.
Helsinki Poetry Connection is an award-winning association of writers, producers and cultural activists that promotes live poetry, spoken word, and open mic culture in Finland and abroad.
21:30
Afterparty
The festival is free of charge but requires registration.
In collaboration with Nordic Drama Corner, Marta Fluvià Agency and Eurodram - European network for drama in translation.
With the support of Arts Council of Finland and City of Helsinki
Post Theatre Collective Studio • Pengerkatu 11 a 3, 00530 Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
