In the work Presidenterna, we get to know three retired cleaning ladies: Erna, Mariedel, and Grete. One day, they gather at Erna’s to see the pope’s sermon on TV. What follows is a vicious showdown in which they sort out everyone’s relationship to their own personal histories and to society.
The women represent a part of humanity: virtuousness, promiscuity, and abstinence. Human bodily functions, the realities of a body, and an individual’s values and ideologies are juxtaposed in the work. The piece also addresses an individual’s chances of affecting their own circumstances, both on the material as well as the spiritual level.
Duration: 1,5 h
Language: Swedish
Premiere: 4 November 2022, Espoo City Theatre
Working group
Director: Carl Knif
Text: Werner Schwab
Performers: Jonna Nyman, Åsa Wallenius, Linda Zilliacus
Video performers: Aksinja Lommi, Oksana Lommi, Sonia Haga
Light design & scenography: Petri Tuhkanen
Sound design: Janne Hast
Costume design: Karoliina Koiso-Kanttila
Make-up: Tuija Luukkainen
Sewer: Nina Ukkonen
Images: Yoshi Omori
Prompter: Mia Portin-Söderholm
Production: Carl Knif Company & Espoon Kaupunginteatteri
Translations: Linda Östergaard (Swedish), Jukka-Pekka Pajunen (Finnish), Meredith Oakes (English)
“The performance is certainly brave enough to stretch the limits of Espoo’s audience. In several cases as we dive deep enough into the muck, I notice that those of us who still laugh are in the minority, which gives me a childishly titillating sense of satisfaction.”
“Under Carl Knif’s characteristic direction, the actors make use of recurrent poses as a kind of physical leitmotif for characters and atmospheres. This effective touch allows the actors to structure the textually rich performance and creates a rhythm and tempo in the monologues that take the story to its macabre resolution.”
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