Mentalfinland

moi moi! Shows in Linz are over and people back in or at their homes. Mental Finland will take a little break for now until event horizon. Thanks you very many everybody now!

There will NOT be any Mental Finland shows at least before autumn 2010, so if some one try to sell you a ticket into one, give him / her one ginger ale instead. All further shows will be announced here, so be back for furer further misinformation yes please.

Pictures from the Linz harbor where our show was presented in Hafenhalle09 - which btw. is being dismantled into bits and peaces now as after Mental Finland nothing would be worthy.

So ah, ahoi ahoi. While the fresh dust of Strasbourg’s is still standing on our shoulders we’re already on our tracks to Linz, Austria - where streets are straight and cars are shiny. And by the way this is the last two performances this year, take your chance! So with out further more:

MENTAL FINLAND TAKES OVER LINZ 29. and 30. October 2009, 8 pm / Hafenhalle09

Download and see for free .PDF program for Mental Finland with all full color pictures!

Vilnius was busy but nice. Full house and warm people, yes yes.

next Mental Finland will perform their fresh jokes at Le-Maillon 22.10.2009 and 23.10.2009. 20% new material! We (royal we) did not gets any sense from their website using our computers at hand, so I’ll just publish the necessary contact info here:

Le-Maillon, Théâtre de Strasbourg - Tél. : 03 88 27 61 71
13 Pl Andre Maurois
Strasbourg, Alsace 67200 FRANCE

The The European Parliament is there same week, so be there or be elsewhere. haha.

Making of Mental Finland - a Documentary by Mia Jonkka on YLE TEEMA cultural channel 22.9.2009 @ 19.30, and repeated 23.9. @ 15.20 and 26.9. @ 13.15

This can be then viewed via the internets free for one month. Mostly people speak finnish and rather no subtitles are present. Sori about thaat. And abroad you might have to use a proxy.

The Mental Finland autumn 2010 tour starts today, 16 September at the Finnish National Theatre in Helsinki! We’re crazy happy to have the whole international superduper crew finally together again, and proud to have them as our guests in both mental and physical Finland. Everything’s ready’s for tonight’s kick-off, excitement perceptible in the air, the media, the whole universe… perhaps we finally find out in the next couple of weeks what Mental Finland is all about??

According to the box office staff Mental Finland is going to be “a bloody fight” - but I guess they we’re referring to the fierce ticket request; all ten performances are mercilessly sold out.

Mental Finland at the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre in Vilnius on 16 October, at Le Maillon in Strasbourg on 22 and 23 October and in Hafenhalle in Linz on 29 and 30 October - join us on tour!

Ahoi!

Show dates in Helsinki are:

Ke 16.09 19:00
Pe 18.09 19:00
La 19.09 20:00
Ma 21.09 19:00
Ti 22.09 19:00
To 24.09 19:00
Pe 25.09 19:00
Ma 28.09 19:00
Ti 29.09 19:00
Ke 30.09 19:00

Venue is the main stage of the Finnish National Theatre. Buy ticket from here or call +358 (0) 9-1733 1331. Hurry up  as we soon sell out are sold out!

Other show dates in Vilnius, Linz and Strasbourg

So What are we doing after the orgy? Mental Finland shows in Brussels are over for now, but maybe maybe just maybe we’re heading back there in 2010. Lets see!  

Now we are having a little break - doing some other projects, planning the future, arguing about the past, panicking about the present.  

Our next stops are:
Finnish National Theatre in Helsinki, 10 shows between 15.9. - 30.9.2009.  Dates to be confirmed & ticket sale starting in april.

15. & 16.10.2009 Festival Sirenos - Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009

29. & 30.10.2009 Linz - European Capital of Culture 2009

Bubbling under: Berlin, Tallinn… contact your local el presidente or La Révolution and demand Mental Finland in town! … Meanwhile - ta taaa!

Arrrrgh been lazy bloggers as all the champagne and positive press has made us proud and dizzy. But here we go again.

We, the real artists, aren’t really so much into the press reactions, as our ultimate and only motivation to create work is to praise and please our noodly goodness, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

BUT for those of you who are - we spare some googlin’ trouble by choosing the nicest random cherries from the top. Thank you very many!

Suomeksi - in Finnish
http://www.turunsanomat.fi/kulttuuri/?ts=1,3:1005:0:0,4:5:0:1:2009-02-14,104:5:593440,1:0:0:0:0:0: 

http://www.uusisuomi.fi/kulttuuri/50165-arvio-mental-finland 

http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/artikkeli/Belgialainen+ensi-iltayleisö+järkyttyi+Smedsin+teatterista/1135243479091 

In not so important misc languages:
http://www.expatica.com/be/lifestyle_leisure/arts_culture/Just-when-you-thought-it-was-safe-to-go-back-into-the-sauna_13622.html

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/iMental+Finlandi+premiere+amazes+Brussels+theatre+audience/1135243509669

http://www.lalibre.be/culture/scenes/article/481657/les-derniers-gaulois-sont-finlandais.html

http://www.lesoir.be/culture/scenes/scenes-mental-finland-au-kvs-2009-02-10-689582.shtml

http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/459132 

If you are here to find out, what is this Mental Finland and mr. Kristan Smeds really about, I recommend starting from this good article by Ivo Kuyl.

Jos koetat juurikin saada selville mistä Mental Finlandissa on oikein kysymys ja mitä Smeds oikein keilailee, suosittelemme lukemaan tämän Janne Saarakkalan artikkelin. Lisäksi Suomen Kuvalehden juttu viime kesältä “Smedsin teesit” ladattavissa tästä .PDF -muodossa. Ei muuta tänään, moi!

Kuvassa DJ Kekkonen - Pictured here: DJ Kekkonen

The last rehearsal, last try out, last aftermath, last supper… all went according to plan yesterday: technically high class stuff but pretty low on energy. Mental Finns are simply done with the rehearsal process. And saving all their adrenalin for today’s Big Bang Broadcast. Stay tuned!

The KVS photographer Bart Grietens came to see the try outs last weekend and fell in love with the show. He also captured very well the blue relief we’re all feeling being so close to the goal.

Eleonore aka Leo aka Leksa underwater with Domenico

Lexa being carried by Milton, Dome, Laura and Ana

In a Meet the Artist event that was recently held at the Finnish Seaman’s Church we finally found the answer: “Mental Finland is a dark or black, but very humoristic comedy or tragedy”. Any further questions?? Resumee of the event is available here in Finnish.

Counterphotographing continues, we took a picture of our Meet the Artist audience:

…and in this occasion also an enormous KIITOS to the Finnish community of Brussels, specially to all the wonderful people at the Benelux Institute, the Finnish Embassy and the Seaman’s Church (who would still let us use their sauna department… hmmm, we’ve exceptionally been behaving well). Thank you so incredibly many!!

This weekend brought along the try outs - first real and not only mental audience contact. Nice calmness mixed with concentrated excitement all over… We’re almost there!

The container can always be repainted just a little

Jurate and our dresser Nicole getting everything ready in the KVS costume atelier

Tommi and HP were so relaxed they decided to put up a flee-market on backstage just before the show

To be on the safe side we also forbid animal feeding during the try outs

I think we were very succesful in confusing the local journalists in our mental press event last Tuesday.

some more counter photography - they are always photographing us, now we revenge!
 
Here a link to TV brussels TV spot about Mental Finland - works with varying result

… and as a plus pic of HP as he is such a funny guy

Kristian and Jean are hiding something behind the curtain…

…the last run thru without audience! A slight but nice tension at the KVS on Wednesday night. Still some technical problems to be solved and a couple of interesting question marks hanging in the air. The process continues, hasta la victoria siempre!

A big production like Mental Finland requires a lot from everybody. With some real Finnish sisu, we’ve already managed to strech our dancers beyond their normal length.