International students take over the stage in spring 2025
International students enrich the Finnish theatre scene with diversity and new insights. After graduation, many of them would like to work in Finland.
This spring, over ten of the performances produced at the Theatre Academy are part of international degree students’ artistic thesis projects.
This, of course, is because the academy is becoming more and more international. Many master’s programmes admit applicants whose first language is not Finnish and who study in English. For example, the two-year Master’s Degree Programme in Directing admitted international degree students for the first time in 2020.
“Since then, a couple of non-Finnish-speaking students have been selected to the programme after each application round. This spring’s performances are good examples of the internationalisation of directing education,” says Saana Lavaste, Professor of Directing.
So, what can the audience expect from the performances? In brief, everything from theatre to contemporary dance and performance art.
Topics range from “afro-surrealism” in Mannequin Dreams directed by Ikenna Anyabuike to themes of “time and the pain and beauty of being together” in I:AM MoMo by Balint Barabas Sziget. The play Two More Days by Simba Siim Maaten blends Shakespeare with ecological issues, while Giorgia Lolli’s choreography for this could be us has been inspired by cat videos, ballet, the tv series The Nanny and exercise routines in the style of Jane Fonda.
Often, a single performance can be linked to several students’ artistic thesis projects: for example, a dramaturgy student has written the script, acting students are the performers and a scenography student has planned the staging. Artistic work in a working group is a central part of the studies at Theatre Academy.
New ideas, insights and work cultures emerge
Saana Lavaste notes that the fact that the student population has become more international has had an impact on the activities of the directing programme. Although multilingualism also entails challenges, it is good for the programme to attract talented people from a wider geographical area than just Finland.
“International students studying in our master’s programme have often already built a career in the theatre world in their previous home countries, so they introduce us to different ideas, insights and work cultures, which also benefit our Finnish-speaking community.”
Choreography student Giorgia Lolli, for example, has invited in performers from various backgrounds in the dance performance she has choreographed for this performance season.
For students, working in an international group is educational and prepares them for working in the international arts sector after graduation.
Many of the Theatre Academy’s international students would be happy to work in Finland after graduation. In fact, to make students rooted in the Finnish arts sector, they receive support already during their studies, for example through co-productions and traineeships in professional theatres.
“I know building new networks is a long project, but I really hope that I manage to find opportunities to do my work in Finland,” Giorgia Lolli says.
Performances in more and more languages
For the audience, the performances offer a good opportunity to see new non-Finnish-speaking – often English or non-verbal – performing arts in Helsinki.
It is predicted that by 2035, every fourth resident of Helsinki will speak some other language than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi as their first language. This creates a clear need for a theatre that takes into account the different backgrounds of the audience.
Saana Lavaste hopes that there will be more chances in Finland to see performances not only in Finnish, Swedish, Sámi and English, but also in the first languages of a diverse group of professionals – for example, in Arabic, Somali and Russian.
Come to see our performances!
The Theatre Academy’s season programme is published on the university website. All public events organised by the university are listed in the event calendar.