The Bear

The BearGrigory Stepanitch Smirnov arrives to collect a debt from the widow Popov, but she can only pay later. He refuses to leave before he has been paid, and a heated argument ensues at the climax of which the widow insults Smirnov by calling him a bear. This is the final straw for the hot-headed Smirnov, who challenges her to a duel. An unexpected twist brings about a happy end, making The Bear one of Chekhov’s warmest comedies.

Written by Anton Chekhov

Directed by Jack Leo / The Finn-Brit Players

Showtimes

21:30 Thursday 6 November
16:05 Saturday 8 November

Approximate duration 30 minutes

 


An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening

Faustus

After 24 years having the Prince of Devils for his servant and with all the power of Hell at his fingertips, Faustus’s contract with Satan is finally coming to an end and it is the last evening of his life. He asks Mephistopheles for a room and a bunch of 'whoevers' to listen to him. He reminisces on the pasts and futures that he has known with the help of Hell’s time machine, and with surprising bittersweet humour faces the concept of meaning itself. He finally resorts to a quite un-supernatural, totally human invention: an apology.

Of the play:

'It's hard to miss Mickle Maher's brilliance in this ingenious retooling of the Faust legend. Maher's Faust is not the renaissance braggart of Marlowe or the romantic titan of Goethe but a skittish nobody plucked from the pathetic comedies of Gogol' (Chicago Reader)

Written by Mickle Maher

Directed by Rebecca Clamp / the Finn-Brit Players

Cast

Dr. John Faustus: Adrian Goldman

Mephistopheles: Fionna O'Sullivan

Showtimes:

21:15 Friday 7 November
16:50 Saturday 8 November

Approximate duration 45 minutes

 

FELT IF 2008

FELT IF 2008 The Festival of English Language Theatre in Finland is being organised this year for the third time by The Finn-Brit Players. It will bring together three theatre companies from the vibrant English-language theatre scene in Helsinki; Thespians Anonymous and The Really Small Theatre Company join the Finn-Brit Players in staging nine short plays by local writing talent, as well as by classic and contemporary authors from around the world.


The plays

An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening (Mickle Maher)
21:15 Fri 7 Nov
16:50 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 45min
The Bear (Anton Chekhov)
21:30 Thu 6 Nov
16:05 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 30min
Between Mouthfuls (Alan Ayckbourn)
20:55 Thu 6 Nov
17:50 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 20min
The Dark Lady of the Sonnets (Bernard Shaw)
18:00 Thu 6 Nov
18:25 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 30min
Finders Keepers (Oana Velcu)
18:50 Thu 6 Nov
13:00 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 40min
The Form (Norman Simpson)
18:00 Fri 7 Nov
15:05 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 45min
Once Upon a Time in a Plague Year (William Bullein, adapted by Alpo Honkapohja)
19:45 Thu 6 Nov
13:55 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 55min
Plastic Soup (Zoë Chandler)
19:00 Fri 7 Nov
19:10 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 1h 5min
The Proposal (Anton Chekhov)
20:20 Fri 7 Nov
20:30 Sat 8 Nov
Approx. duration 40min

Performances

6-8 November 2008 at Cultural Centre Caisa, Mikonkatu 17, Helsinki.

Timetable »
Tickets

€5 per show or €20 for a festival pass, available at the venue.

Thanks to our friends:

Festival of English Language Theatre in Finland 2008

The Finn-Brit Players are organising another festival of English-language theatre in the autumn of 2008, and would like to invite interested theatre groups to participate. The festival will be organised at Caisa Cultural Centre on 6-8 November 2008.

Submission forms are available online:

For Finn-Brit Players members (Microsoft Word .doc) (.rtf file)
For other theatre groups (Microsoft Word .doc) (.rtf file)

Should you or your company wish to submit one or more plays to the festival, please fill out the form for each entry electronically and send to jack at finnbritplayers.com by 16 May 2008. However, if you plan to submit an entry, the organising team would appreciate an advance notification of interest before this deadline.

When submitting a play, please note the following:
The play must be in English.
The duration of the play should be between approximately 30 and 60 minutes. Plays clearly much shorter or longer than this will not be considered.
- For other groups than the Finn-Brit Players: it is up to each company to secure performance rights for their entry. We therefore urge companies to make sure rights are available before submitting a play. Proof of having a license to perform will be required before the actual festival, but not at the submission stage. Plays outside copyright (i.e. the author has been dead at least 70 years) and original material are also welcome. (Players' shows' rights are handled by the festival organizing team.)
- Also for groups other than the Players: there will be an entry fee of €20 for each play accepted for the festival. This fee will be waived should someone from the submitting group take part in the organising of the festival, either backstage, front of house or administration.

In contrast to previous festivals, this year FELT IF will run over three days. Our plan is to give each individual play at least two performance slots, possibly more, depending on the number of entries. Due to these constraints, the number of entries for the festival may have to be limited. Should it be necessary to limit the number of plays, the choice of which entries to include will be up to the discretion of the organising team. However, we will do our most to accommodate at least one play from each submitting group. We will announce which plays have been accepted for the festival by 1 June 2008.

In addition to the performance dates, the venue is booked for festival use also on 4-5 November. During this time, each play will receive a slot to perform a technical rehearsal. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, it will most probably not be possible to organise full dress rehearsals at the venue. We also request that when choosing a play for the festival, avoid plays with many scene changes, complicated sets, special effects or other technically challenging aspects. Basic set pieces (table, chairs) will be provided by the organisers, but props, costumes and any other set pieces must be provided by each performing group. We will have someone stage managing, running lights and sound, but should a play require special lighting or sound cues or scene changes, we strongly recommend that such plays have their own people to cue lights/sound and handle set changes.

We sincerely hope that your group will participate in this third festival of English-language theatre in Finland and help make this an event to remember.

On behalf of the Finn-Brit Players,

FELT IF 2008 organising team
Contact Jack Leo: jack at finnbritplayers.com, 050 384 6740

p.s. for an historical perspective, we have preserved web pages for earlier festivals:

FELT IF 2003

FELT IF 2004