THE LAST OF THE SOVIETS
Part I of the Svetlana Alexievich Trilogy
“What is the most shocking thing? What will kill me? A crushed idea! Communism betrayed! Everything in pieces!”
After 74 sold-out performances, THE LAST OF THE SOVIETS returns to the stage in autumn 2025 as the opening part of the Svetlana Alexievich Trilogy, presented in full for the first time in Finland.
Based on Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich’s groundbreaking documentary novel, the play tells the story of Vasili Petrovich N, an 87-year-old loyal Party member clinging to the ideals of communism long after the Soviet Union has collapsed. Interviewed by Alexievich in the early 1990s, Vasili Petrovich
embodies a shattered utopia whose echoes still reverberate in today’s Russia.
Performed in the abandoned former high school of Vuosaari, East Helsinki, where former library space is transformed into a brutal 1990s Russian nursing home.
CRITICAL ACCLAIM
“A merciless X-ray of Russian dictator worship – a production that deserves festival invitations across Europe. (…) Sami Lanki is the sovereign centre of the stage. Relentless, magnetic, devastating.”
– Demokraatti, Aug 7, 2025
“Rarely have video installations integrated so seamlessly with live performance as in this production.”
– Kulttuuritoimitus.fi, Aug 6, 2025
“Although Alexievich’s novel is rooted in the ruins of the Soviet Union, every moment of this staging feels like the present.”
– Voima, Oct 16, 2023
ARTISTIC TEAM
Writer: Svetlana Alexievich
Finnish translation by: Martti-Tapio Kuuskoski & the Director
Cast: Sami Lanki (Vasili Petrovich N), Elli Närjä (nurse & other roles)
Direction & adaptation: Director (anonymous due to the Russia’s war against Ukraine)
Set, video, lighting, poster: Pavel Semchenko (winner of the Säde Award 2024)
Costume & makeup: Anis Kronidova
Sound design: Ville MJ Hyvönen
Produced by: HELSINKI 98
Duration: 2h 10min (incl. 15min intermission)
Recommended age: 16+
Note: No late admission
ABOUT THE COMPANY
HELSINKI 98 is a theatre collective exploring the urgent question: “What can art be after February 24, 2022?”
The production is part of the World on Stage initiative, supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Actor Sami Lanki was nominated for Theatre Actor of the Year by the Finnish Actors’ Union, and the production was featured in the Main Program of the Tampere Theatre Festival 2025.
THE SVETLANA ALEXIEVICH TRILOGY
Part I: THE LAST OF THE SOVIETS (Oct 19-20, 2025)
Part II: ZINKY BOYS (Oct 26–27, 2025)
Part III: THE CHERNOBYL PRAYER (Nov 2–3, 2025)
CYCLE TICKET: See all three plays for €85 (Tickets bought separately €105).
VENUE & ACCESS
Vuosaari Tilajakamo, Vuosaarentie 7, Helsinki
By metro: 3-minute walk from Vuosaari station (Columbus exit).
By car: Parking available at venue.