A Political Fairy Tale

Created with actor Jussi salminen Wake up Puppetland, here comes Salminen! (Herätys Nukkemaa, täältä tulee Salminen!) is a show about being a refugee and surviving in a foreign place. The show is an innovative community theatre show, where both locals (Finnish) and immigrants encounter their prejudices. The show tells the story of Salminen, the most ordinary Finnish man, who had to leave his homeland and seek for refuge in Puppetland. In the new country Salminen has to overcome the harsh immigration byrocracy, the ignorance of local puppet citizens, but also his own old patterns of thought. Can his cultural difference become a social richness?

Wake up Puppetland was performed in the refugee centers across Finland as well as at many cultural events and festivals during 2009, as well as Tehdas Teatteri 2010 (with puppeteer Maiju Tainio)

From the press:

”This theatrical fairy tale teases the artificial concept of nationality” – Turun Sanomat

”Salminen encounters in Puppetland the same prejudices and rejection as his refugee colleagues when arriving in Finland. At the same time a kind push is given to the Finnish immigration politics.” – Kymmen Sanomat