Áillohaš - Son of the Sun at Finnish National Theatre
A Portrait of the Artist Nils-Aslak Valkeapää has its world premiere in the Omapohja Studio on Sami National Day 6.2.2014.
The play paints the portrait of a self-doubting, soul-searching artist, who discovered both the joy of art and the bitterness of fame. A powerful, beautifully poetic study of one man´s destiny, the production also tells the tale of Lapland´s Sami people, their art and struggle for survival. The tale expresses a yearning for beauty and purity in a world blindly propelled towards ecological disaster.
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (Áillohaš in the Sami language) (1943-2001) was a Sami artist and one of the best known promoters of Sami art and culture both in Finland and abroad. Valkeapää was multi-talented, achieving a career as a writer, musician and visual artist. One of his most widely read works is The Sun, my Father (Beaivi, áhcázan), for which he received the Nordic Council Literary Prize in 1991.
The performance is in Finnish and Sami, with English surtitles.
The production is a collaboration between the Finnish National Theatre, Beaivváš Sámi Našunálateáhter and the Ruska Ensemble. Rehearsals have taken place in Koutokeino, at the Beaivváš Sámi theatre. After the run in the FNT´s Omapohja Studio, the production will tour Northern parts of Finland, Sweden and Norway.
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