New Plays from Finland
Emil Santtu Uuttu
Emil Santtu Uuttu (born 1986) is a dramaturge and performance artist who graduated from the Theatre Academy at the University of the Arts Helsinki in 2018. They have also studied philosophy and museology.
As a dramaturge, Uuttu wants to share new ways of thinking that we don't yet experience elsewhere, and challenge our prevailing beliefs and assumptions. Uuttu's work is characterised by the use of a wide range of background materials and the integration of historical sources into their works. Uuttu's work, The Lovely Daughter Erika – Notes on a Name, was part of the programme at the Trusting Queer Archives seminar held in Helsinki in October 2023, where Uuttu also gave a talk on their research. They was also invited as a keynote speaker at the Rewriting Histories and Reimagining Societies through Art conference organized by Aalto University and Aalborg University in 2025.
The Lovely Daughter Erika, created as a co‑production with Teatteri Takomo, Kiasma Theatre and the Finnish Literature Society, was also invited to the programme of the Tampere Theatre Festival. The work was also presented at the Turku New Performance Biennial, adapted for the Migration Institute's archive in 2025.
The play and the essay "that she wrote herself into visibility and then freedom" was published in August 2024 by Tutkijaliitto, the researchers' society. The work has been translated into English by Roy Boswell.
The Lovely Daughter Erika received the Archive Work of the Year award and was recognized with the Lea Award for Best Play of the Year.
Uuttu has worked on multidisciplinary projects in Finland and abroad. Recently, Uuttu has worked with choreographer Anna Maria Häkkinen on the contemporary dance piece Afterglow, low lingering splits of light, which was presented at the Performa Biennial in New York in the autumn of 2023, and with visual artist Camille Auer on the lecture performance Ruff Knowledge, which was presented at the Baltic Circle Festival in Helsinki in 2023, Spring Roll Festival in Turku in spring 2024 and TransCreative Conference in Helsinki in autumn 2024.
Selected plays
