Programme: Two More Days: The Tempest Resummoned by the Baltic Sea

Published 28.2.2025 | Updated 4.3.2025

Thank you for being here to experience my artistic research into co-directing with the natural non human Baltic Sea. When I read about Shakespeare’s Tempest, I was intrigued about when it was written – at one of the speculated beginnings of the Anthropocene in 1610 or 1611. And when I read the play, I had strong feelings towards the way humans alienated themselves from others and treated Earth as if it had no agency. After reading it again and again, I realised the multitude of topics (colonialism, racism, patriarchy, world politics, personal tempest, etc) this play covers, and though I wanted to focus on one thing, my co-creator, the Baltic Sea never allowed me to focus on one perception. To figure out how to stage the play, we watered it, we sunk it, we meditated with it, we used proxies, we used meditation, we used research, etc. I do this in search of interdependence in (my) theatre, and I search for interdependence for and with sustainability. Including a sustainable working schedule and the (im)possibilities it entails. No working overtime.

I feel like what used to be normal is not normal anymore since most of it was never normal, never natural. The limits that have felt nonexistent for ages are getting closer and closer, and it is a struggle to fit everything into those limits. I feel the need, among different communities, to let go and reinvent human ways. Redirect human-centred theatre since it rarely mirrors LIFE. If it does reflect anything, then it reflects a partial vision of human experience, and itself.

I am grateful for the people who joined us on this production and the care they put into the work. It has made me realise what all this might be about – caring.

Simba Siim Maaten
28.2.2025

Characters

PERFORMERS, on and off stage performers

• PROSPERO, the former Duke of Milan
• MIRANDA, a teenager who grew up on the island
• JOUKAHAINEN, the spirit of the Baltic Sea, killer of Väinämöinen
• VANAPAGAN, an inhabitant of the island
• FERDINAND, Prince of Naples
• ALONSO, king of Naples
• ANTONIO, duke of Milan, Prospero’s brother
• GONZALO, councillor to Alonso and friend to Prospero
• SEBASTIAN, Alonso’s brother
• TRINCULO, servant to Alonso
• STEPHANO, Alonso’s butler
• SHIP CREW
• BOATSWAIN
• DANCER, the human proxy for the Baltic Sea

Location: Ultima Thule aka Saaremaa (Öl)

ACT I

ACT I SCENE 1        
SCENE 1 Part 1 – The Tempest
SCENE 1 Part 2 – The lords endure the tempest on the boat
ACT I SCENE 2
SCENE 2 Part 1 – Prospero tells Miranda that she was not born on the island they live
SCENE 2 Part 2 – Joukahainen brings the news that they sank the boat
SCENE 2 Part 3 – Prospero tells Vanapagan to work more
SCENE 2 Part 4 – Prospero tells Joukahainen to kill Vanapagan
SCENE 2 Part 5 – Prospero imprisons Ferdinand

ACT II

ACT II SCENE 1
SCENE 1 Part 1 – Joukahainen warns Vanapagan to stop fighting
ACT II SCENE 2
SCENE 2 Part 1 – Prospero torments the lords to show his power
ACT II SCENE 3
SCENE 3 Part 1 – Miranda sees Ferdinand’s truth that the latter is still learning

ACT III

ACT III SCENE 1
SCENE 1 Part 1 Trinculo finds Vanapagan
SCENE 1 Part 2 Stephano finds Trinculo and Vanapagan
ACT III SCENE 2
SCENE 2 Part 1 – Antonio forces Sebastian to kill Alonso
ACT III SCENE 3
SCENE 3 Part 1 Prospero reminds Joukahainen to kill Vanapagan
ACT III SCENE 4
Scene 4 Part 1 Natural non-human gets ready
Scene 4 Part 2 Natural non-human spares Vanapagan, and the latter experiences a shift in his perception
Scene 4 Part 3 Trio fights the natural non-human
Scene 4 Part 4 Prospero offers Vanapagan to kill him
ACT III SCENE 5
SCENE 5 Part 1 Ferdinand cheats
SCENE 5 Part 2 Prospero brings everyone to his cave, it turns into a big fight, and then Prospero decides not to leave

The cut scene from the play

ACT III SCENE 3

PROSPERO’s cave. 

PROSPERO: Well, Joukahainen! Where are the gods and goddesses? Let them make haste, your band! I want all of them to play their part in the entertainment I have created for our dear children. You! Who invited You!? What is your business here?

KAVAL-ANTS: But that’s just it. Nobody invited me. And that’s not kind! Nobody spared a thought for Kaval-Ants! So Kaval-Ants, came along just the same. Hehee.. hee! So how about a drink? (Without waiting for a reply, he pours a drink.) Not bad, your poison. (Looking at PROSPERO) No, Prospero, do not be afraid… Prospero, no! Do not run away!

But I prefer sex on the beach.  

(To the audience) I see that shocks the dear lady, but each to his own. And when you are having sex on the beach, think of Kaval-Ants!

PROSPERO: Begone! Away! (He makes a magic sign.) 

KAVAL-ANTS: I’m going, boss, I’m going. But not without a word in honour of the bride and the noble company, as you call it.

Talking about sex – my mom was a pagan. My mother was a Pagan woman, a proud child of the forest.. or the seas. She knew the trees by their moods, the rocks by their whispers, and the seas by their colours. But then came the blue-blooded lord with his shiny boots, and his pretty promises, and a two-handed sword. And voilà—me, Kaval-Ants! A half-blood stuck between the spirits of the land and the lords who rule it.

When I was young, the Christians took me away—and said I was too “special” to waste among the pagans. They dressed me up, taught me their prayers, and they put butter on my bread. Oh, how the other Pagan kids envied me. And they stopped speaking to me. The land and the seas stopped speaking to me, and I stopped answering.

I also started to hear the whispers of the lords and their children behind my back so I stopped speaking to them also. And now I wonder: will there ever be a place for someone like me? I was born into the world of magic, and I was taught the tricks of power.

But power over what, eh? I am neither lord nor spirit. Neither conqueror nor native. I’ve become a shadow of both worlds, trying to trick myself into believing it’s enough.

Yet still, I endure. Because that’s what Kaval-Ants does—endures. And when the storm hits the beach (winks towards the audience) and passes… Kaval-Ants will be standing.

Speaking of storms. Kind and messed up, Joukahainen. They were here in the time before names. There was no land nor sky before him. There are different gossip but according to one version, with an arrow, they drew a line between sky and water. With a single shot, they felled Väinämöinen. Yep – Joukahainen is the killer of Väinämöinen. The story goes that they were siblings and rivals. It was a contest, who was smarter or stronger or prettier or more muscular… One day Joukahainen challenged Väinämöinen. And Joukahainen lost – so they were about to die but to save their life, Joukahainen offered Aino, their own teenage child, to Väinämöinen to wed in marriage. And the latter agreed. Teenager, uncle… yak! Aino reacted by taking her life. One day, Väinämöinen was walking in the sea, and Joukahainen, with a single arrow, ended Väinämöinen’s life in retaliation. Väinämöinen’s knee stuck out from the water, and a bird, looking for a nest, landed on it and laid an egg, which fell into the water and cracked. One half of the egg became the land, and the other became the sky above. So that is how you create worlds. Into the limitless sea full of limitless resources. In actuality, the sea is quite limited. Joukahainen has been here since then and has been trying to mend their human mistakes – they have been the storm, and the stillness, the light and the dark –  but to no avail. This species is doomed.

As is Vanapagan? Vanapagan does not bend. He is the land itself, stubborn and scarred. And that is both his power and his doom. We call him Vanapagan, the Old Pagan. We laugh at him. Remember how the Christians took me away! I had hot food, warm clothes, and books that taught me about their God and all his saints. Suddenly, I was somebody. I was “that lucky half-blood kid.”  

Of course, the other Pagan children got jealous. Who wouldn’t? I strolled through the village like I owned the place. They’d whisper to each other, “Hey, maybe Christianity isn’t so bad. I hear they have… butter!” And slowly, one by one, they stopped dancing around trees and singing to the seas and started wearing clothes that weren’t made from reeds and rabbit fur.

But there was one who didn’t. Vanapagan. The last true Estonian. The old human nature. He’s been around since maybe Joukahainen. Eyes like stone, voice like a saw. The Christians call him a devil. And the Pagans? Well, we just call him Vanapagan. He’s the last of us—still drinking mushroom tea, still muttering charms of the life.  

The rest of us? We laugh at him now. We make fun of him, and we mock him. Oh, how we laugh. “Look at the crazy old man fooled by Kaval-Ants!” we say. “Still talking to ticks and fishes! Doesn’t he know the world’s moved on?” Even the Pagan children—who once sat with him, hoping to learn the secrets of thunder and snakes—snicker behind his back now. He’s become a joke. A relic. A man out of time.

But… is he really?

You see, I used to laugh too. I’d go to his hut, trick him out of a charm or two, and feel like I’d won. But sometimes—just sometimes—I wonder if maybe Vanapagan knows something we’ve all forgotten. Something that was ours, once.

Because here’s the truth, friends: They didn’t beat us with swords or spears. No. They beat us with education. They took children, dressed them in fine clothes, taught them to read Latin, and fed them warm soup. And soon, we forgot how to call the fishes, how to speak to the trees, how to summon the rain. We became… civilised.

And Vanapagan? He is gathering is army – I am proud of him. He’s the last one who still remembers. We laugh at him, but maybe—just maybe—we should be mourning him instead. Because when he’s gone, a spirit will go with him.

So yes, I’m Kaval-Ants. The trickster who got the best of both worlds. But then I wonder if I’m just a shadow of something greater. Something we’ve lost.

Pause.

Anyway, enough of that. Life goes beyond us, eh? And the next time you are on the beach, think of simpler things – think about your place here among it all, not just humans.  

(To the Baltic Sea) Hei, Baltic Sea. I know your faith, and I know your beaches – I will start missing you!

Kaval-Ants gives a small, sad smile, bows slightly, and walks off as the lights dim slowly.

Working group

• Directing, scenography, costume and lighting design: Simba Siim Maaten (Artistic Thesis, TeM, Degree Programme in Directing)
• Dramaturgy: The Baltic Sea, working group and Katariina Jumppanen, Maria Myllykangas (both from the Master’s Degree Programme in Theatre Pedagogy)
• Performers:
• Sabina Aftyka (Sibelius Academy)
• Salvador Esparza (Open University studies)
• Emil Houlind (Degree Programme in Acting in Swedish)
• Olli Kalliala (Open University studies)
• Hanna Kalo (Open University studies)
• Tuule-Helin Krigul (Sibelius Academy)
• Lambis Pavlou (Sibelius Academy)
• Marjukka Savolainen (Master’s Degree Programme in Dance Performance)
• Romeo Ström (Degree Programme in Acting in Swedish)  
• Sound design and composer: Jin Oh (Sibelius Academy)
• Sound operator: Aimo Eräkorpi (guest)
• Choreography: The Baltic Sea, Working group
• Fight choreography: Emil Houlind and Hanna Kalo

Consultants

Juri Jänis, Samu Kotilainen, Anna Papinsaari

Supervisors

Julia Jäntti (Set, lighting and costume design), Tom Rejström (Acting), Vincent Roumagnac (Directing/Artistic Research)

Services for artistic activities at TeaK

• Stage department: Marja Zilcher
• Props department: Tarja Hägg
• Costume department: Arja Nuppola
• Lighting, sound and AV department: Hanna Käyhkö, Mika Savolainen, Jyrki Oksaharju
• Communication, poster, programme: Jaana Forsström
• Photography: Kevin Buy
• Production coordinator: Rosa Sedita
• Producer: Maria Kaihovirta

The text is based on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, 1610 or 1611.

Inspiration

• Aimé Césaire A Tempest
• Metsatöll
• Ultima Thule
• Siiri Sisask
• Peeter Volkonski
• Estonian Mythology
• Finnish Mythology

Special Thanks

Kaisa Roover

Performance schedule

Premiere: 28.2.2025 at 18:00

Other performances:

• 1.3.2025 at 15:00
• 3.3.2025 at 14:00
• 4.3.2025 at 18:30
• 5.3.2025 at 19:00
• 6.3.2025 at 18:00

Performance venue

Theatre Academy, Studio 4, Haapaniemenkatu 6

Content notices

Theatrical smoke and fog

Duration

80 min

HAMLET:

Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion
be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the
word to the action; with this special o’erstep not
the modesty of nature: for anything so overdone is
from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the
first and now, was and is, to hold, as ’twere, the
mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature,
scorn her own image, and the very age and body of
the time his form and pressure.

(Shakespeare 1601)

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