seagull sisters - tidsskrift.dk

Nordic Theatre StudiesVol. 28, No. 1, 2016, 27-38.

After World War II, Finland returned slowly to theinternational community. It was in a very delicategeopolitical position between the Western andEastern Blocs. As part of the re-establishing ofFinlands international connections, the FinnishNational Theatre actively sought for possibilities forinternational visits and co-operation. It wanted toshowcase its work abroad, especially by connectingitself mainly to other national theatres. During theyears Arvi Kivimaa was the director of the FinnishNational Theatre in 1950-1974, the theatre lookedmainly westward: it visited abroad fourteen timesand many of the well-known European theatresperformed in Helsinki at the Finnish National

Theatre. The main international interest was drawnto the productions of The Three Sisters and TheSeagull with which the Finnish National Theatrevisited European theatres five times in 1956-1963.

In this article, I discuss the guest performancesthe Finnish National Theatre performed at theRoyal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, Sweden inMay 1956. The performances were The ThreeSisters by Chekhov and The Seven Brothers, anadaptation of a novel by Aleksis Kivi. It was thefirst time the Finnish National Theatre travelledabroad performing an Anton Chekhovproduction directed by Eino Kalima. I analyse thevisit by discussing geographies of theatre. As

During the Cold War, the Finnish National Theatre actively sought possibilities for international visitsand co-operation. It wanted to showcase its work abroad and especially connect itself with WesternEuropean theatres. In 1956, the Finnish National Theatre visited Stockholm. In terms of politics, it wasinteresting that the Finnish National Theatre chose to perform Aleksis Kivi’s The Seven Brothers andespecially interesting that it performed Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters. It seems to be the case thatthere was a national border between the Finnish National Theatre and Anton Chekhov’s play that washard to cross. The director of the production, Eino Kalima, was described as an expert in interpretingChekhov due to his background as a student of Stanislavski. This was a myth created by the director ofthe Finnish National Theatre. However, it increased international interest for the production of TheThree Sisters with Kalima as its director. Furthermore, it supported the theatre’s attempts at seekingmobility and engaging in international, cultural encounters.Keywords: Cold War, cultural politics, geographies of theatre, international relations, theatre visits

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Joanne Tompkins has defined, theatre'sgeographies incorporate not only architectural butalso narrative and more abstract interpretations ofspatiality and theatre's connection to a historical,social, and cultural context.1 I propose that inaddition to this, geographies of theatre alsoincorporate theatre's artistic and political contexts.For example, in my case study, it is not only aquestion of the nationality of the play which isproduced in a particular place in a certainhistorical moment, but also the question ofshowcasing the artistic work of a theatre and thebranding of an art institution abroad. It seems tobe that producing Anton Chekhov's plays in postwartime Finland was not uncomplicated. It seemsthat there was a symbolic border between thetheatre and the play that was hard to cross at thetime. It was especially difficult for the FinnishNational Theatre to showcase their work abroadwith a Chekhov play.

In order to cross national borders and increaseinternational interest towards the production ofChekhov, the Finnish National Theatre createdthe myth of Kalima being a student ofStanislavski at the time of the Stockholm visit. Iwill begin by looking at the preliminary decision-making-process at the Finnish National Theatre.What were the artistic, cultural and/or politicalreasons for choosing these two productions, howdid the Finnish National Theatre negotiate thegeographies of theatre, and, eventually, what wasthe reason for creating the myth? One of thevisiting productions was an internationally knownclassic and the other one was an adaptation of aFinnish novel, The Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivi,which the Swedish audience did not know inadvance. I will then look at the reception of thesetwo performances in Stockholm. How did theSwedish critics participate in the process ofcreating and sustaining the myth as authoritativeexperts? How did they describe the guestperformances in terms of theatrical style andnational questions?

Right after the war, preparations for the Peace

Treaty between Finland and the Soviet Unioninhibited any attempts for Finland to join theinternational community. For example, Finland hadto refuse Marshall Aid, the European rebuildingprogramme initiated by the USA in 1947. After theParis Peace Treaty in 1947, the Foreign Ministry ofFinland approached the General Secretary of theUN who set in motion Finland's application formembership. However, due to the Cold War and thefear of endangering the existing balance of powerin the UN, Finland could not join the organizationbefore 1955. The year 1955 was a significant turningpoint in Finland's international position: the countrycould join both the Nordic Council and the UN.2Johanna Rainio-Niemi has argued that during theCold War, Finlands neutrality was a pragmaticchoice determined by the vicinity of the SovietUnion. However, Finland tried to find as manyoptions for western European integration aspossible.3 I would argue that since Finland had toremain outside of many international alliancesduring the Cold War, especially of a political andeconomic character, culture and theatre in particularopened up new possibilities for internationalinteraction and exchange. For example, Finlandbecame an official member of the InternationalTheatre Institute, ITI, already in 1950.4 In 1950sinternationalism the nation states were consideredimportant. They were considered the agentsconnecting other nation states. Theatre productions,partly with the influence of the ITI, started tocirculate across the globe. Theatre proved itself apoint of contact for different nations: productions,artists, and companies were imported andexported.5

The initiator of the international activities andvisits of the Finnish National Theatre and animportant agent in the Finnish theatre in generalwas Arvi Kivimaa. Pirkko Koski has consideredKivimaa to be the most decisive figure inmaintaining international links in Finnish culturalhistory.6 As theatre director of the HelsinkiPeoples Theatre in the late 1940s, he focused on aScandinavian and Anglo-American repertoire. Hedirected, for example, a series of AugustStrindberg's chamber plays.7 Very soon afterbecoming the director general of the Finnish

Geographies of Theatre28

National Theatre in 1950, Arvi Kivimaa started tonegotiate for international guest performances.For him, being a theatre internationalist duringthe Cold War was essential. Modernism,urbanization, internationalism, and national issuesemerge repeatedly in Kivimaa's production andwork.8 In my opinion, international and nationalissues were not in conflict for Kivimaa; in fact, hecombined them in many ways. For example, afterWWII it was important for him to developFinnish theatre and culture towards a moreinternational orientation. Kivimaa can beconsidered as one of the theatre internationalistswho, as Charlotte Canning has defined, saw them[nationalism and internationalism] as integral totheir identifications as theatre people.9 In 1951,Arvi Kivimaa contacted the director of the RoyalDramatic Theatre, Karl-Ragnar Gierow, about thepossibility of guest performances between thetwo theatres. It is no coincidence that hecontacted the Royal Dramatic Theatre inStockholm first. Among the reasons might havebeen Kivimaa's personal interest in Scandinavianplays, the cultural connections between thecountries, the economic feasibility of the journey,but more importantly, the political neutrality ofSweden, must have surely made the choice easier.However, the negotiations for the visits were longand multiphased. I will refer to them in closeorder to demonstrate the complicated decisionmaking process and the requirements of culturaldiplomacy and geographies of theatre. Themultiphase negotiations were needed forachieving both national agreement andinternational visibility and activity, all of whichKivimaa was looking for for the Finnish NationalTheatre. First, Kivimaa invited the RoyalDramatic Theatre to perform at the FinnishNational Theatre. The visit of the Royal DramaticTheatre took place in Helsinki in the spring of1953. The Finnish State encouraged these kindsof visiting performances and the Ministry ofEducation promised to pay the costs of the visitif the Finnish National Theatre made a loss.10After the visit, the initiator of the guestperformance was Karl-Ragnar Gierow. He invitedthe Finnish National Theatre for a return visit and

proposed a Chekhov play as the guestperformance.11 The board of the FinnishNational Theatre acknowledged the invitation tovisit with a Chekhov play at the board meeting ofSeptember 1953.12

The negotiations of the return visit did notprogress quickly, although both parties wereagreed on the visit as such. The reason for thedelay was that they could not agree on the guestperformance. Despite Gierow's request to see aChekhov production in Stockholm, Kivimaasuggested The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams(completed in 1951). According to Kivimaa, theboard of the Finnish National Theatre wished tosend the theatre to Stockholm with The RoseTattoo.13 According to the board, if the RoyalDramatic Theatre would prefer The Cherry Orchardas earlier requested, the second choice would beThe Rose Tattoo. Since the board preferred The RoseTattoo, they sent Arvi Kivimaa to Stockholm tonegotiate the details of the visit.14

Karl-Ragnar Gierow replied quickly to Kivimaa.It was clear that he did not want to see The RoseTattoo in Stockholm. Politely, he praised theproduction of the Finnish National Theatre, butdid not consider the play, as such, a veryimportant piece. Besides, in Gierow's opinion, TheRose Tattoo had been performed everywhere inSweden although not in Stockholm. He suggesteda play by Molière, but in the same sentencebrought up the possibility of seeing a Chekhovproduction in Stockholm: according to him, itwould be even better than a Molière production.Especially, he mentioned the productions of TheSeagull or The Cherry Orchard as most probablesuccesses in Stockholm.15 Gierow had seen theproduction of The Rose Tattoo at the FinnishNational Theatre. Arvi Kivimaa was supported bya Swedish theatre critic Ebbe Linde, who wrote anarticle about Finnish theatre to Dagens Nyheter, oneof the main newspapers in Sweden. According toLinde, The Rose Tattoo was a good production. Inhis opinion especially the actors Ella Eronen andHolger Salin succeeded in the main roles. Lindesuggested that the Finnish National Theatreperform The Rose Tattoo in Stockholm as a guestperformance instead of the unavoidable national

Nordic Theatre Studies 29

classic, The Heath Cobblers by Aleksis Kivi.16In Kivimaa's opinion The Rose Tattoo was not a

success as a play, but he insisted on the quality ofthe Finnish National Theatre's production. He,too, considered the interpretations of Chekhovplays by Kalima among the best performances ofthe theatre. And finally, the main reason for theproblem of not being able to decide on the guestperformance was explicitly mentioned. Accordingto Kivimaa, the Finnish National Theatre couldnot consider visiting only with a Russian play. InKivimaa's opinion, a guest performance of aChekhov play by the Finnish National Theatre inthe political situation of the early 1950s could beinterpreted as an act of opportunism.17

To avoid the interpretation of an opportunisticact and not visit Stockholm with just a Russianplay, Kivimaa suggested a compromise: theFinnish National Theatre could perform aChekhov play on the main stage of the RoyalDramatic Theatre and another play on the smallstage of the Royal Dramatic Theatre. He did notmention which Chekhov production the theatrewould choose.18 At the time only The CherryOrchard was in the repertory.19 For the secondguest performance he suggested a Finnishcontemporary play by Walentin Chorell, Matkamies(The Wayfarer) directed by Jack Witikka. It hadpremiered in 1953 and was received very well.Kivimaa also proposed another possibility, whichwas a play by Eino Leino, Tarquinius Superbus,which he had just started to rehearse with theactors. Finally, in his reply, he mentioned fiveother productions the Finnish National Theatrewould soon be premiering.20 Interestingly, therewere no Chekhov productions among them.

Approximately three weeks later, Kivimaarepeated the possibility of giving The Wayfarer as aguest performance in Stockholm but did notmention the possible Chekhov production.21 Heeven visited Stockholm to discuss the details ofthe visit at the end of February 1954. BesidesGierow, during his visit, he met the Finnishambassador in Stockholm G. A. Gripenberg andsome members of the Finnish Society in Sweden.According to Kivimaa, they supported thepossible visit of the Finnish National Theatre, but

advised the theatre to pay special consideration asto the choice of the guest performance. InKivimaa's opinion, the theatre could probably notuse any of the planned productions as the guestperformance. It would need a new production, sothe board of the Finnish National Theatredecided to postpone the visit to the season 1954-1955.22 It seems clear that the Finnish ambassadorin Sweden, Kivimaa, and the members of theboard of the theatre did not want the FinnishNational Theatre to visit Stockholm with aChekhov production. Geographies of theatre didindeed matter in choosing the guest production.

Besides the question of choosing the guestperformance, another reason for postponing thevisit to Sweden was the visit the Finnish NationalTheatre made to Paris in 1955. It was a returnvisit too, since Comédie Française had visited theFinnish National Theatre in April 1953.23 In Paris,the Finnish National Theatre performed The Miserby Molière directed by Arvi Kivimaa at aninternational theatre festival. In Kivimaa'sopinion, the guest performance in Paris was abeginning in showing Finnish theatre abroad. Hewas convinced about the importance of thecontinuation of these visits and according to him,the theatre should visit with a national repertoirein the future.24 Furthermore, in the annual reportof the season 1951-1952, it was mentioned thatthe Finnish National Theatre was a pioneer inshowing Finnish theatrical life new perspectives.25

Regarding the visit to Stockholm, the board ofthe Finnish National Theatre finally decided tovisit Stockholm in the spring of 1956 with aChekhov production, as requested by the RoyalDramatic Theatre, which was mentioned also inthe minutes of the board meeting, and a shortscrap of some Finnish play.26 The board was verydetermined to carry out the visit and perhaps a bitworried about whether the visit would happen atall since they agreed on performing a Chekhovplay in Stockholm. In the fall of 1955, Kivimaasuggested that the guest performance could beThe Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov performedtogether with a 10-minute extract from someFinnish play before it. In Kivimaa's opinion, TheThree Sisters was the best of Kalima's Chekhov


interpretations and you would get your Chekhovas you always wanted to, he wrote.27 This wasgood news for Gierow and he replied at once. Hewas very happy about the choice of the guestperformance.28 The Three Sisters was not in therepertory of the Finnish National Theatre in1955. Actually, on the very same day Kivimaawrote to Gierow, he also wrote to Eino Kalimasuggesting that he could direct The Three Sistersagain.29 The production, originally premiered in1947, returned to the repertory after eight yearson 15 February 1956.30 The Finnish NationalTheatre was supposed to perform the Chekhovproduction on the main stage and a Finnish playon the small stage of the Royal DramaticTheatre.31 The Chekhov production, performedon the main stage, would have been considered asthe main guest performance and the secondperformance on the small stage less important.However, in the final agreement this was changed:the Finnish National Theatre was scheduled toperform The Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov onthe main stage of the Royal Dramatic Theatre on7 May 1956 and The Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivion the same stage of the theatre on 8 May 1956.32

Two performances, both on the main stage ofthe Royal Dramatic Theatre, the long discussedChekhov production and a Finnish productionmust have felt like a victory to Arvi Kivimaa andthe board of the Finnish National Theatre despitehaving to compromise on the visitingproductions. A visit with The Rose Tattoo and TheWayfarer would have given a different image of theFinnish National Theatre than the visit with TheThree Sisters and The Seven Brothers. However,Kivimaa and the board of the Finnish NationalTheatre did not have to settle for performing onlya Chekhov production, which, according to them,could have been interpreted as an opportunist actshowing sympathy towards the Soviet Union. Thetheatre could perform two productions on thesame stage.

The decision to perform a Finnish classicadaptation of novel labelled as the national epic,The Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivi, the nationalwriter, as the Finnish performance was somehowan obvious choice. Already in the late 1930s, the

Finnish National Theatre had visited Stockholmand Tallinn with plays by Aleksis Kivi. TheSwedish Theatre in Helsinki had visited abroadwith a Kivi play, too.33 However, returning to aKivi play after thinking about The Wayfarer byWalentin Chorell looks like a compromise. TheWayfarer, a modern and poetic play, had been aFinnish attempt to use new theatrical means onstage. For example, the set was designed byarchitect Heikki Siren mostly using projections,light, and shadow. A much more traditionalproduction, The Seven Brothers, adapted anddirected by Wilho Ilmari, was performed at theFinnish National Theatre for the first time on 3March 1954. It became a steady seller: it had,altogether, 153 performances before it was closedon 22 January 1963.34

In my opinion, by suggesting The Rose Tattoo asthe guest performance, Arvi Kivimaa wanted todepict the Finnish National Theatre as a theatre,which introduced international, new, andespecially Anglo-American plays to Finnishtheatre audiences. During the time Kivimaa hadrun the theatre, he had increased the number ofAnglo-American plays in the repertory. In therepertory of the Finnish National Theatre in the1950s it is easy to see the connections to WesternEurope and Scandinavia. Geography andgeopolitics did matter in Kivimaa's decisions.Instead of accomplishing his line of repertoryalso in international guest performances he wasasked by Karl-Ragnar Gierow to choose a Russianclassic as the guest performance. Thus, it wasimportant for Kivimaa and the Finnish NationalTheatre to mention on all occasions that The ThreeSisters was a request by Gierow.35

In the geopolitical situation of Finland in the 1950s,the countries where the plays were written matteredto a nation trying to balance in its ambivalentposition. It seems to be that for the FinnishNational Theatre it was more acceptable to produceChekhov's plays for a Finnish audience, but in the1950s, the theatre did not necessarily want toperform them as guest performances abroad,


despite director Eino Kalima's (1882-1972) longtime interest in Chekhov's plays. Kalima haddirected his first Chekhov productions in the mid-1910s: Uncle Vanya in 1914 and The Cherry Orchard in1916. Before beginning his work as director generalof the Finnish National Theatre, he had studiedSlavic languages and had a fellowship to study inMoscow and St. Petersburg in 1904-1908. At thetime, Finland was the autonomous Grand Duchy ofFinland incorporated into the Russian Empire. InMoscow, Kalima acquainted himself with theChekhov productions directed by KonstantinStanislavski at the Moscow Art Theatre.36 The earlyChekhov productions by Kalima in the 1910s werenot considered problematic in terms of the originof the plays. According to Pirkko Koski, in thereports of the Finnish National Theatre 1914-1916there are no signs about prejudices against theauthor or the Russianness of the plays. Besides,Kalima's background as a Slavist was commonknowledge. The general reception changed onlyafter 1918, which Kalima himself also recognized.37It seems to have followed more general attitudes:Finnish historian Matti Klinge has argued that afterFinland started the process of becomingindependent, hostility towards Russia began.38 TheRussian Revolution in 1917 prompted the Finns todeclare the country independent.

Eino Kalima returned to Chekhov plays after abreak of thirty years. Before then, he did not wantto take the risk of being seen as an unpatrioticperson.39 The Three Sisters was his third Chekhovproduction and the premiere on 26 November1947 was the first time the play was produced inindependent Finland. Despite the good reviews,The Three Sisters was not a public success. Itreceived only ten performances and it closed on10 January 1948. According to Annikki Hyvönen,The Three Sisters gave the opportunity for publicacknowledgment although the audience washesitant towards the origin of the play.40 In PirkkoKoski's opinion, the good reviews by recognizedtheatre critics were an important part in thecanonizing process of not only Chekhov plays,but also Kalima's interpretations of them inFinland.41 The re-premiere of The Three Sisters inFebruary 1956 received positive reviews in

Finland. It was considered more optimistic thanthe version Kalima had directed in 1947.42

Before the visit, the Swedish audience was givensome background information about Finnishtheatre and the performances. At the end ofApril, the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet publishedan article by Ritva Ahonen about Kalima's longterm interest in Chekhov. He was referred to as aChekhov expert.43 Based on Kalima's backgroundas a student of Slavic languages and cultures andhis previous work as theatre director withChekhov's plays this was certainly true. However,there was more to come. In the articles publishedafter the press conference in the Finnish Embassyin Stockholm it was mentioned that the directorof The Three Sisters, Eino Kalima, had studiedunder Konstantin Stanislavski.44 Based on thearticle published in Stockholms Tidningen, it wasArvi Kivimaa who told this to the Swedishpress.45 In different sources discussing EinoKalima's fellowship in Russia at the beginning ofthe 20th century, there is no evidence about hisstudies with Konstantin Stanislavski, though hesaw many productions at the Moscow ArtTheatre.46 According to Kalima himself, he metStanislavski only once in 1916. During themeeting they discussed the possibility of Kalimareturning to Russia in 1917 in order to study withStanislavski, but due to the revolution, the planwas never realized.47 Still, by labelling Kalima as astudent of Stanislavski, Kivimaa created a myththat certainly made it easier to defend the choiceof the guest performance. It also increasedinternational interest towards the production ofThe Three Sisters and Kalima as the director of it.

The Finnish National Theatre prepared aspecial programme in order to help the Swedishaudience in following the guest performances. Inthe programme, there were four short articles (inSwedish) and lots of advertisements of Finnishproducts (in Finnish). The first article discussedthe history of the Finnish National Theatre,focusing on the main artists of the theatre. Thesecond article was about Finnish Drama, the thirdabout the Finnish National Theatre and Nordicdrama. The Finnish National Theatre was told tobond with the Nordic neighbouring countries.


The theatre's long tradition in performing playsby August Strindberg, Henrik Ibsen and KajMunk, but also European classics by WilliamShakespeare and Molière was mentioned. The lastarticle presented The Seven Brothers by Aleksis Kivi.It is worth noticing that Kivi was mentioned in allfour articles also briefly in the article discussingthe Finnish National Theatre and Nordic drama.48

Anton Chekhov, on the other hand, wasmentioned only very briefly in the first article inconnection with Eino Kalima's period as thedirector general of the theatre. According to thearticle, it was Kalima who introduced the newacting style based on Stanislavski's style and a newrepertory consisting mostly of new French plays.He had started the Chekhov-tradition of thetheatre. It is interesting to note that it was calledthe Chekhov-tradition since during his time as thegeneral director of the theatre in 1917-1950Kalima had only directed two Chekhovproductions, The Three Sisters in 1947 and TheSeagull in the spring of 1950, which was his lastseason as the director of the theatre. By 1956,Kalima had directed five Chekhov-productions inall between 1914-1956 and he was the only onewho had directed Chekhov plays at the FinnishNational Theatre. During the same time, forexample, the Finnish National Theatre hadperformed approximately 30 productions ofWilliam Shakespeare's plays.49 Besides the picturesof the products advertised in the programme,there were several pictures of the artists of theFinnish National Theatre and five other picturesin the programme. Two pictures were about thestages of the theatre (the interior of the MainStage and the facade of the Small Stage). Twopictures presented the productions of the theatre,the main actors of To Damascus by AugustStrindberg and a picture showing the set of TheWayfarer by Walentin Chorell. The fifth picturewas about the statue of Aleksis Kivi by sculptorWäinö Aaltonen.50

The Swedish press covered the guest performancesvery well. Not only the local newspapers inStockholm, but also other newspapers in other parts

of the country published articles and reviews. TheSwedish reviews paid attention to the wholeensemble and to the evenness of the quality of theensemble of the Finnish National Theatre in bothguest performances. According to the reviews, TheThree Sisters was considered the main guestperformance and The Seven Brothers accompanied it.However, the Queen of Sweden attended only thelatter performance. It is interesting to note that thefirst time the Finnish National Theatre'sinterpretation of The Three Sisters was performedoutside of Finland, Lennart Josephson wrote to theSydsvenska Dagbladet that the production wasinternationally famous.51

Based on the reviews in general, The ThreeSisters, was considered a successful productionwith high artistic quality. Many critics mentionedthat they, as well as the majority of the audience,did not understand the Finnish spoken on thestage. Naturally, the critics knew the play inadvance and according to them, it was possible tounderstand the deep emotions and the refinedatmosphere of the performance withoutunderstanding the dialogue.52 The director, EinoKalima, received most of the attention in thereviews. He was credited for his expertise ininterpreting Chekhov's plays. Many criticsmentioned this was due to his background asStanislavski's student. Kalima was appreciated inachieving the real Russian tone that met all theexpectations.53 One critic of the 1947 productionemphasized exactly the same thing: according toHuugo Jalkanen, for the Finnish ensemble itcould not have been possible to perform theSlavic tone of life any better.54

In my opinion, the Swedish critics mainlystrengthened the myth the Finnish NationalTheatre had created. They repeated theinformation they had received at the pressconference and in the articles published beforethe guest performances. For example, the critic ofnewspaper Aftonbladet wrote: he [Kalima] haslearned all there is to learn from Stanislavski andthe other Russians.55 In A. Gunnar Bergman'sopinion, the Stanislavski influence was very visiblein the production. He had never seen any directorcome so close to Stanislavski's ideal interpretation.


He also wrote: director Eino Kalima, scenographydesigner Karl Fager and the whole ensembleproved that Finland is an ocean closer to Russiathan Sweden. Probably, they are an ocean closerto the old Russia, Chekhov's Russia. It isinteresting how the good quality of the Chekhovproduction was, at least partly, explained withgeography. Yet, the title of Bergman's review wasNo-one can be more Finnish.56

According to the Swedish critics, the guestperformances gave an impression of the width ofthe repertory of the Finnish National Theatre.57Not all the spectators could understand Finnishand, unlike The Three Sisters, they did not know TheSeven Brothers in advance. In order to assist theaudience, actor Matti Ranin gave short summariesin Swedish as a narrator. In one critics opinion, helooked like Aleksis Kivi in Wäinö Aaltonen'sstatue.58 The Seven Brothers was mainly appreciatedbecause it differed from the Chekhov production.For some critics it was too rustic, for some notrustic enough. Per Erik Wahlund wrote in SvenskaDagbladet: More Finnish Finns from Finland onecould not imagine than the seven illiteratebrothers with linen blond hair, faces made ofstone [...] nothing would be safer than to havesuch guys as lifeguards.59 In A. Gunnar Bergman'sopinion, the director of the production, WilhoIlmari, and the actors performed two differentinterpretations. According to him, the directorsinterpretation was too clean compared to therobust and true-Finnish characters. The reviewerused the term Hollywood clean.60

Gunnar Falk wrote a review after the guestperformances for the newspaper Gefle Dagblad. Hediscussed in his article how theatre participates inthe production of national images in performingboth domestic and foreign plays. In his opinion,acting in the theatre was very similar in Finlandcompared to Sweden. However, emotions weremore visible in Finnish acting. He paid attentionto the long pauses in the performance of TheThree Sisters. He referred to the fine Chekhov-tradition of the Finnish National Theatre. Hisexplanation of it was that Chekhov's milieu andmentality was very well understood in Finland.61Interestingly, several critics mentioned how

successfully the Finnish ensemble created theRussian atmosphere of The Three Sisters, but notmany of them paid attention to the quality of theensemble in producing a Finnish atmosphere inThe Seven Brothers. They seem to have taken it forgranted. Perhaps from the viewpoint of theSwedish critics, geographies of Finland andFinnish theatre were intertwined: being Finnishincluded the cultural ability to understand andperform the Russian tone extremely well.Geographically, in Europe, Finland wasundeniably an eastern country.

In this article I have discussed the Finnish NationalTheatre's visit to Stockholm in May 1956 by lookingat geographies of theatre, international theatre visitsand cultural diplomacy. It was important for thedirector general, Arvi Kivimaa, and the board of theFinnish National Theatre to pay attention to theinitial nationality of the play: though the questionof nationality when discussing theatre performancesis a complicated one. It seems to be that politicalalliances affected cultural diplomacy profoundly.The Finnish National Theatre producedbackground material for the Swedish audience andorganized a press conference at the FinnishEmbassy in Stockholm. The Finnish NationalTheatre turned the disconcerting question of theorigin of The Three Sisters to their advantage.Labelling Eino Kalima as a student of Stanislavskiconnected the production to the time Kalimastudied in Russia at the beginning of the century.62Connecting the production to Russia made it easierto perform it in a historical moment when therelationship between Finland and the Soviet Unionwas complicated. In addition to this, Kalima'sexpertise in interpreting Russian classics gave agood reason for choosing the guest performance.The created myth was useful not onlyinternationally but on the home front as well. In thereception of the visiting performances, the mythwas connected to the geographies of theatre. Notonly the myth about Kalima but also the FinnishNational Theatre's geographies, the theatre'scultural, political, and historical context seemed toexplain the good quality of the Chekhov


production.The reception of the Stockholm visitwas very useful for the Finnish National Theatre.Besides the good reviews in Helsinki and inStockholm, The Three Sisters also attracted anaudience in Helsinki: it was performed 56 timesbefore the last performance on 29 May 1960.63 Thisperiod included two performances for aninternational audience during the ITI worldcongress held in Helsinki in June 1959.64Encouraged by the good reviews the productionreceived in Stockholm, the Finnish National Theatreplanned to perform it in Paris, Copenhagen, andVienna in 1957 and it was also offered to theEdinburgh Theatre Festival.65 In his letter to theEdinburgh Festival Office, Jack Witikka, director atthe Finnish National Theatre sustained andstrengthened the myth. The international press hereferred to consisted mainly, or perhaps only, ofSwedish newspapers: It has been said that the bestand truest Chekhov today is to be seen at theFinnish National Theatre. This may soundpompous were it not for the fact that this statementhas been made by an international press as well aspublic. The fact that our former director general,professor Eino Kalima, worked with Stanislavskiand has upheld his tradition in its finest sense,should bear this out. Next Spring, our theatre willperform Chekhov's Three Sisters in Paris, Vienna andCopenhagen, following this years highly successfulvisit to Sweden.66

Despite the good reviews, The Three Sistersreceived both in Helsinki and in Stockholm, theStockholm visit was the only time the productionvisited abroad. In 1957, the Finnish NationalTheatre visited Copenhagen and Viennaperforming The Seven Brothers by Kivi and Iphigeniaat Aulis by Euripides. The reason for replacing The

Three Sisters with Iphigenia at Aulis might have beenthe fact that Kivimaa himself had directed theEuripides' play. However, the Finnish NationalTheatre returned to Chekhov when they chosethe next guest performance. The myth enabledthe Finnish National Theatre to do so. It drewinternational interest towards the interpretation byKalima and the Finnish National Theatre eventhough it strengthened the image of Finland as aneastern country. In 1961, the Finnish NationalTheatre visited West Berlin with The Seagulldirected by Kalima. The Parisian audience saw TheSeagull in 1962. In West Berlin and Paris, theFinnish National Theatre visited with oneproduction, but in 1962, during the visits toMoscow and St. Petersburg, The Seagull wasperformed together with The Seven Brothers.67 InLübeck in 1963, the theatre performed The Seagulltogether with Samuel Beckett's Krapps Last Tape.68I need to look at the details of these visits moreclosely, but one significant difference is the timeof the event. Politically, the beginning of the1960s was a more stable time in Finland than the1950s, even though the country could not bealigned and it was still balancing between the Eastand the West. With all the visits the FinnishNational Theatre undertook after World War II,the agenda of the theatre was to strengthen thenations cultural connections to the Western bloc.It is obvious that the success of The Three Sisters inStockholm in 1956 and the usefulness of themyth about Kalima as Stanislavski's studentincreased international interest towards theFinnish National Theatre and was the ticket,which enabled Finnish theatre to travel across theborders of Europe.


1. Joanne Tompkins, "Space and the Geographies ofTheatre: Introduction," Modern Drama vol. 46:4. 2003,pp. 537-541.

2. Jukka Nevakivi, "From the continuation war to thepresent, 1944-1999," From Grand Duchy to a ModernState. A Political History of Finland since 1809, OsmoJussila, Seppo Hentilä, Jukka Nevakivi, eds., Hurst &Company, London 1999, pp. 282-284.

3. Johanna Rainio-Niemi, The Ideological Cold War. ThePolitics of Neutrality in Austria and Finland, RoutledgeTaylor & Francis Group. New York 2014, p. 5.

4. In fact, the ITI was one of the very first internationalorganizations Finland could join in the post warpolitical climate.

5. Charlotte M. Canning On the Performance Front US Theatreand Internationalism, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke2015, p. 23.

6. Pirkko Koski, "Arvi Kivimaa," National Biography ofFinland. Finnish Literature Society.http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi. accessed 4.9.2015.

7. Ibid.8 . Hanna Korsberg, "Open the Windows on Europe! Arvi

Kivimaa's Work and Literary Production in the 1920sand Early 1930s." Comparative approaches to European andNordic Modernisms. Mats Jansson, Janna Kantola, JakobLothe and H. K. Riikonen, eds., Palmenia, Helsinki2008, pp. 59-78.

9. Canning, op.cit., p. 22.10. A letter from Arvi Kivimaa to Karl-Ragnar Gierow

14.11.1951. E I h:1. In the archive of the RoyalDramatic Theatre; The minutes of the board meetingof the board meeting of the Finnish National Theatre5.5.1953.

11. A letter from Karl-Ragnar Gierow to Arvi Kivimaa16.9.1953. E I h:5. The archive of the Royal DramaticTheatre.

12 The minutes of a board meeting of the FinnishNational Theatre 22.9.1953. The archive of theFinnish National Theatre.

13. A letter from Arvi Kivimaa to Karl-Ragnar Gierow16.1.1954. E I h:5. The archive of the Royal DramaticTheatre.

14. In the minutes of the meeting of the board of theFinnish National Theatre 15.1.1954, the boardsuggested The Rose Tattoo. According to the minutes ofthe meeting, the Chekhov production that was

discussed earlier was The Cherry Orchard. The minutesof the board meeting of the Finnish National theatre15.1.1954. The archive of the Finnish NationalTheatre.

15. A letter from Karl-Ragnar Gierow to Arvi Kivimaa21.1.1954. E I h:5. The archive of the Royal DramaticTheatre. Original letter in Arrived letters 1954-1955.The archive of the Finnish National Theatre.

16. Ebbe Linde, "Teatersvep i österled", Dagens Nyheter30.12.1953.



19. The Record II of the Finnish National Theatre. Thearchive of the Finnish National Theatre.



22. The minutes of the board meeting of the FinnishNational Theatre 25.2.1954. The archives of theFinnish National Theatre; A letter from Arvi Kivimaato Karl-Ragnar Gierow 28.2.1954. E I h:6. The archiveof the Royal Dramatic Theatre.

23. The minutes of a board meeting of the FinnishNational Theatre 23.1.1953. The archive of theFinnish National Theatre.

24. Arvi Kivimaa, Teatterin humanismi. Avajaispuheita1950-1971, Otava, Helsinki 1972, p. 58.

25. It is very likely Kivimaa had written the annual reporthimself. The annual report of the season 1951-1952, p.2. The archive of the Finnish National Theatre.

26. The minutes of the meeting of the board of theFinnish National Theatre 31.5.1955. The archive ofthe Finnish National Theatre.


28. A letter from Karl-Ragnar Gierow to Arvi Kivimaa18.8.1955. E I h:10. The archive of the Royal DramaticTheatre.

29. A letter from Arvi Kivimaa to Eino Kalima 15.8.1955.

Nordic Theatre Studies36

The archive of the Finnish Literary Society.30. By performing The Three Sisters on 29 January 1960, the

Finnish National Theatre celebrated the centennial ofAnton Chekhov's birth. The Record II. The archive ofthe Finnish National Theatre.

31. A letter from Arvi Kivimaa to Karl-Ragnar Gierow17.1.1956 and a letter from Karl-Ragnar Gierow toArvi Kivimaa 24.2.1956. E I h:10. The archive of theRoyal Dramatic Theatre.

32. The contract between the Royal Dramatic Theatre andthe Finnish National Theatre 22.2.1956. An enclosureto the minutes of the board meeting of the RoyalDramatic Theatre 22.2.1956. The archive of the RoyalDramatic Theatre.

33. In April 1936, there had been A Finnish week inStockholm and during that, the Finnish NationalTheatre had performed two performances. First, threechamber plays by Aleksis Kivi, Kihlaus, Lea and Yö japäivä and then, Tartuffe by Molière at the RoyalDramatic Theatre. The Swedish Theatre in Helsinkihad performed Den stora världsteater six times andAleksis Kivis Sockenskomakarna four times inSeptember 1935. Styrelseberättelse ochrevisionsberättelse 1935-1936. The Archive of theRoyal Dramatic Theatre.

34. Besides Stockholm, the Finnish National Theatreperformed The Seven Brothers in Copenhagen andVienna in 1957 and in Moscow and in St. Petersburg in1962. The Record II. The archive of the FinnishNational Theatre.

35. For example, the minutes of the board meeting of theFinnish National Theatre 31.5.1955 and the letter fromArvi Kivimaa to the Ministry of Education 30.9.1955.Sent letters 1955-1956.The archives of the FinnishNational Theatre.

36. Kari Ketola, Ryssän koulussa. Suomalaiset Venäjänstipendiaatit autonomian aikana 1812-1917. Finemor Oy,2007, p. 137.

37. Pirkko Koski, "Tšehovin näytelmien kanonisointiSuomessa. Eino Kaliman ohjaukset traditionmurroksessa" Niin muuttuu mailma, Eskoni. TulkintojaKansallisnäyttämöstä, Pirkko Koski, ed., Yliopistopaino,Helsinki 1999, p. 159.

38. Matti Klinge, Vihan veljistä valtiososialismiin. WSOY,Helsinki, 1972, p. 70.

39. Annikki Hyvönen, Eino Kalima Tšehov-ohjaajana.Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki, 1986 p. 96.

Geographies of Theatre 37

40. Ibid., p. 97.41. Koski, op.cit., p. 167.42. Hyvönen op. cit., p. 108.43. Ritva Ahonen, "Finsk Tjechovexpert svarar för Tre

Systrar på The Royal Dramatic Theatre," SvenskaDagbladet, 29.4.1956.

44. "Sju bröders landskap pussel på The Royal DramaticTheatre," Svenska Dagbladet 6.5.1956; "Finskt gästspelmed 10 syskon," Stockholms Tidningen, 6.5.1956.

45. Ly: "Finskt gästspel med 10 syskon," StockholmsTidningen 6.5.1956.

46. Koski, 2015, op cit., accessed 10.9.2015; Koski, 1999,op cit.; Hyvönen, op.cit.

47. Eino Kalima, Sattumaa ja johdatusta, WSOY, Helsinki1962, pp. 320-322.

48. "Svårt göra slut med Kivi," Dagens Nyheter, 6.5.1956.49. ILONA a Finnish theatre database of performances,

http://ilona.tinfo.fi/ (home page), accessed 10.1.2016.50. The program of the guest performances of the

Finnish National Theatre. The archive of the RoyalDramatic Theatre.

51. Lennart Josephson, "Det finska gästspelet," SydsvenskaDagbladet, 11.5.1956.

52. Martin Strömberg, "Tjechov i lysande gästspel,"Stockholms Tidningen 8.5.1956; Ebbe Linde, "Den finskaTre systrar," Dagens Nyheter 8.5.1956; Nils Beyer,"Finska gästspelet," Morgon-Tidning 8.5.1956; Per ErikWahlund, "Eino Kalima och Tre systrar," SvenskaDagbladet 8.5.1956. One critic, Viveka Heyman inDagens Tidningen, wrote how difficult the performancewas for all those who did not understand Finnish.Viveka Heyman, "Festligt finskt på The RoyalDramatic Theatre," Dagens Tidningen 9.5.1956.

53. Ebbe Linde, "Den finska Tre systrar," Dagens Nyheter8.5.1956.

54. Huugo Jalkanen, Uusi Suomi 28.11.1947.55. S. S-s, "Ryskt på finskt vis," Aftonbladet 8.5.1956.56. A. Gunnar Bergman, "Finskare kan ingen vara,"

Aftontidningen 8.5.1956.57. Martin Strömberg, "Tjechov i lysande gästspel,"

Stockholms Tidningen 8.5.1956; Nils Beyer, "Finskateaterns andra kväll," Morgon-Tidningen 9.5.1956.

58. Tord Bæckström, "Finskt gästspel på The RoyalDramatic Theatre," Göteborgs handels- och sjöfartstidning11.5.1956.

59. Per Erik Wahlund, "Kivi på finska," Svenska Dagbladet9.5.1956.

60. A. Gunnar Bergman, "Sju prydliga små pojkar,"Aftontidningen 10.5.1956.

61. Gunnar Falk, "Teatern förkunnar," Gefle Dagbladet14.5.1956.

62.http://yle.fi/elavaarkisto/artikkelit/kansallisteatterin_lokki_liiti_maineeseen_79411.html#media=14177.

63. The Record II of the Finnish National Theatre. Thearchive of the Finnish National Theatre.

64. Hyvönen op.cit., 109.65. A letter from Jack Witikka to the Edinburgh Festival

Office 28.9.1956. The received letters 1955-1956. TheFinnish National Theatre; A letter from Nils Lund toArvi Kivimaa 3.12.1956. The received letters 1955-

1956. The archive of the Finnish National Theatre.66. A letter from Jack Witikka to the Edinburgh Festival

Office 28.9.1956. The correspondence 1955-1956. TheArchive of the Finnish National Theatre.

67. Katri Mehto, "Ifigeneia ja Seitsemän veljestä maailmalla.Kansallisteatterin vuoden 1957 vierailut kansallistaidentiteettiä vahvistamassa," Niin muuttuu mailma,Eskoni, Pirkko Koski, ed., Yliopistopaino, Helsinki,1999, p. 252.

68. The Finnish National Theatre in Lübeck 18 and 19 May1963. The program of the visit published by DeutscheAuslandsgesellschaft. The Archive of the FinnishNational Theatre.

Since 2008, Hanna Korsberg has been Professor of Theatre Research at the University ofHelsinki. Her research interests include the relationship between theatre and politics in Finland,a topic which she has studied in two monographies. She is also the author of several articlesdiscussing theatre history, historiography and performance analysis. She has been an activemember of the IFTR Historiography Working Group since 2001, an executive committeemember (2007–2015), and a vice president (2015–2019). She has served as a member of theadvisory boards for Contemporary Theatre Review and Nordic Theatre Studies. She is also amember of the Teachers’ Academy at the University of Helsinki.

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