2014-2019 Member of European Theatre Collective

Drivers, European Theatre Collective, Director: David Kozma at Mad House

Drivers discussed the experiences and the societal positions of immigrants in Finland through documentary theatre and fictional storytelling. The piece searched for possibilities to normalize the lived experiences of culturally marginalized people in Finland. It focused on work and professional identity, which are considered important in Finnish society.

The first part of the performance happened on a bus. The bus departed from Kamppi Bus Station, platform 48, and drove the audience to Mad House in Teurastamo where the second part of the performance took place. Each seat was equipped with a pair of headphones through which the audience could listen to an audio piece based on Tuomas Martikainen’s book Suomi Remix.

Greetings from Zoongary, Zooropia, European Theatre Collective, Director: David Kozma at Mad House

Director/actor David Kozma took a camera and went to see the places of his childhood in Hungary and Transylvania. He felt this trip was necessary because he no longer recognized the world of Europe anymore. Kozma interviewed and filmed many people close to the border between Hungary and the rest of the world. Kozma, half Hungarian, half Romanian, now a Finn for ten years, asks himself ”What happened in Hungary, to Hungarians? Am I Hungarian?” and shows the sides and stories of divided Europe of the people living and breathing.

The show combined classical and electronic music with visual and live art. Pianist László Süle, electric kantele player Senni Eskelinen, electric violinist and computer expert Romulus Chiciuc, and actress-singer Ágnes Kaszás brought composer Béla Bartok’s classic ethno music into today’s world and helped to tell the stories and the situation of Hungary, in Tiivistämö, as the first performance of Mad House Season 4.

Finphonia Emigrantica, European Theatre Collective, director: David Kozma at Stoa and Caisa

What does Finland look and sound like in Luganda, French, Romanian or Russian? Finnphonia – Emigrantica is about getting to the essence of being Finnish. Is it crystallized in Kimi Räikkönen, Nokia, and ice hockey? Does it involve thousands of lakes? Does anyone outside Finland's borders recognize the Finnish ”sisu”? What happens when an immigrant talks about Finland and being Finnish in their own language? Can they convey the message? Is it recognizable? Does a Finn recognize themselves in it? Does an immigrant recognize Finland and being Finnish in the text? Are there confluences with their own country or native tongue? Does language really matter? In the end, is a look enough to convey an emotion, a situation, a scent – even a whole nation? The European Theatre Collective studied these questions with six multilingual and multicultural actors in Finnphonia – Emigrantica 10 images of Finland in 10 different languages.

Gasheart by Tristan Tzara, R.E.A.D. Festival, director: David Kozma at Madhouse