Press Release by the Ministry of Culture
12 August 2025
Estonian theatre featured at Helsinki Festival with productions Mephisto and Fundamentalist
Estonian theatre will be represented at the Helsinki Festival (Helsingin juhlaviikot) taking place from 14–31 August with the productions Mephisto and Fundamentalist. Cooperation with the festival – which brings together music, dance, theatre, and visual arts – is supported by the Estonian Ministry of Culture and the Embassy of Estonia in Finland.
“I am truly pleased that collaboration between the Helsinki Festival and Estonian theatres has gained momentum again. Both Estonians and Finns are peoples who love theatre – in 2023, theatre, dance, opera, and circus performances in Finland were attended by approximately 3.5 million people. The art of theatre is alive and resonates on both sides of the gulf,” said Grete Ahtola, Cultural Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Helsinki.
“This year is also significant from a historical perspective – it marks 120 years since the first visit of Estonian theatre to Finland. The guest performances of the Estonia Society took place in 1905 at the Arkadia Theatre in Helsinki, marking the start of a long and fruitful collaboration between our theatre professionals,” Ahtola added.
“Estonian theatre is in excellent form. We are honoured to invite two high-calibre and very different productions to the festival. In the spirit of Klaus Mann’s original work, Mephisto offers an ambitious and at times carnivalesque take on the opportunism of an artist in a tense society. Von Krahl Theatre’s Fundamentalist is an intimate and in-depth dialogue in which Finnish author Juha Jokela’s text receives a distinctive and cohesive interpretation. The directing, acting, and overall artistic design in both productions are polished yet full of life,” said Johanna Freundlich, Artistic Director of the Helsinki Festival.
On 15 and 16 August, the Finnish National Theatre will host Mephisto, a production of the Estonian Drama Theatre, for which director Kertu Moppel and leading actor Juhan Ulfsak received the Estonian State Cultural Award in 2022. The Helsinki Festival performances will also be the final shows of the production.
On 20 and 21 August, Von Krahl Theatre will present Fundamentalist, based on Juha Jokela’s play, at the Stoa Cultural Centre in Helsinki. Directed by Marta Aliide Jakovski, the production has been performed more than 100 times to sold-out audiences in Estonia.
Von Krahl Theatre’s collaboration with the Helsinki Festival dates back to the early 2000s, when new Finnish drama began to attract more interest in Estonia. In 2001, the festival featured Connecting People by Jouko Turkka, directed by Finnish theatre director Erik Söderblom.
More information about the festival: https://helsinkifestival.fi/
Further information:
Grete Ahtola
Cultural Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Helsinki
+358 9 6220 2616
[email protected]
Liisa Johanna Lukk
Communications Officer
Department of Communications and International Cooperation, Ministry of Culture
+372 5331 0789
[email protected]