Life sentence prisoners get the floor in a performance called Aikaero (Time difference) directed by Kaisa Korhonen

Despite the fact that the topics of the texts vary, they are connected together by one all-embracing theme: time. ‘The goal is not to create a traditional consistent story but the performance is thematically built around the experience of time. The actual punishment of an isolated person is the frustration in relation to the passing of time,’ ponders Director Kaisa Korhonen over the central idea of the performance.

The writing workshops begun in October 2012 as a group of artists started working in Kerava Prison. Mutual trust was reached during workshops arranged even weekly. The texts of the performance consist of poems, dramatic scenes, monologues, pamphlets and stories.

Although the performance springs from the reality of prison life, the creators find that the theme extends further. ‘We may all be prisoners of different things: our relationships, ourselves, various boundaries and limitations. A longing for contact is universal both in prison and in freedom. We hope that the performance with its personal texts will touch at humane level,’ the director sums up.

Timo Koivuniemi, Prison Director of Kerava Prison, tells that with the help of writing, the prisoners have received tools for self-expression and self-examination. The project has supported their written, oral and physical expressive abilities.

‘The immersion in self-knowledge promotes the process, which prisoners are supported to go through. Writing and self-expression have encouraged the prisoners to study their selves. Who am I, what am I? Everyone decides for themselves what they do and don’t do. This has concretely realised well-being through art,’ says Prison Director Koivuniemi.

The premiere of Aikaero is in Kerava Prison on Saturday 1 March 2014. Two performances will also be seen on the Willensauna Stage in the Finnish National Theatre at 14:00 and 17:00 on Sunday 16 March. After the premiere, the performance will go on tour to prisons around Finland.

PERFROMERS Mira Kivilä, Teemu Koskinen, Timo Torikka and Altti Uhlenius

DRAMATURGY Seppo Parkkinen
DIRECTION Kaisa Korhonen
VISUALISATION Sari Salmela
MUSIC Altti Uhlenius
COREOGRAPHY Maija Nurmio
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Leena Häkkinen

Aikaero is co-produced by the Touring Stage of the Finnish National Theatre, the crew, Kerava Prison and the Criminal Sanctions Agency. The project is supported by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation.

The performance is part of the long-running Prison Project of the Touring Stage of the Finnish National Theatre.

Further information and reservations for the premiere:
Producer of the Touring Stage Roosa Vaverka, tel. +358 50 373 1925 and [email protected]

Further information / Criminal Sanctions Agency:
Usko Määttä, tel. +358 29 56 88570 or +358 50 331 00 67 and [email protected]

Further information / Kerava Prison:
Prison Director Timo Koivuniemi, tel. +358 29 56 82702 or +358 500 813 430