What happens in an audition room when the most important thing isn’t your talent — but your exoticism and diversity? Can the silencing of diverse voices on stage be broken?
SILENCE is a playful and thought-provoking multilingual performance set in a waiting room for an audition. A wide range of languages are spoken in SILENCE — some familiar, others rarely heard on Nordic stages. Each carries memories, stories, and perspectives that don’t fit neatly into one dominant language. The work is developed collaboratively by director David Kozma and playwright Vanja Hamidi Isacson, based on the lived experiences and linguistic backgrounds of the working group.
The fictional audition is for a multilingual musical loosely inspired by the invisible and silent characters in Tove Jansson’s Trollvinter. As the actors prepare for their turn, they begin to question what is expected of them. Are they truly being invited to share their voices — or simply to perform diversity? As 2025 marks 80 years since the publication of Jansson’s first book, the performance reflects on silence, identity, and the politics of language on stage.
SILENCE challenges the “multilingual silence” that dominates Nordic theatre and questions the cultural logic of “one nation, one language.” It speaks to a wider political climate in which minority and migrant languages are framed as threats, and English dominates at the expense of local languages. The performance confronts this reality — presenting a space where multilingualism becomes both expression and resistance.
SILENCE
Working group:
Text: Vanja Hamidi Isacson, David Kozma, and cast
Director: David Kozma (FI)
Dramaturg: Vanja Hamidi Isacson (SWE)
Actors: Ágnes Kaszás (FI), Wanjiku Victoria Seest (DK), Yuko Takeda (FI), Medo Ismail (SWE)
Light Design: Pietu Pietiäinen (FI)
Sound Design: Saku Kämäräinen (FI)
Choreography: Gesa Piper (FI)
Premiere: 10.09.2025 at 18:30
Other performances: 12., 13., 16., 17., 18., 19., 24., 25., and 26.09.2025*
(All shows at 18:30, except 13.09 at 15:00)
About Post Theatre Collective
Post Theatre Collective creates multilingual, multidisciplinary performances that explore identity, language, and belonging in a globalized world. Based in Finland, the collective brings together artists from diverse backgrounds to craft performances that speak to today’s cultural realities.
Supported by: Arts Promotion Center Finland, City of Helsinki, Nordic Culture Point, and Svenska Kulturfonden
Post Theatre Collective • Pengerkatu 11, 00530 Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
