The Ecosystem of Finnish Performance

 

The Finnish theatre and performing arts industry (theatre, dance, and circus) is made up of national performance institutions, state subsidized theatres, dance and circus companies, as well as of a wide range of independent theatres, dance and circus companies, and production houses. For the 2023 statistics collection we received data from 268 professional companies. In addition, there are a great number of sporadically active performance groups, more than 500 amateur theatres, and a small number of commercial theatres that are not included in the statistics. Helsinki is the central theatre district along with Tampere and Turku. 

 

Repertoire theatres and established smaller theatre, dance, and circus companies make their revenues from the state (through grants from either the Ministry of Education, or the Arts Promotion Centre), local government and private funding, as well as from ticket sales. There is a greater variation in the sources of income and a higher share of self-generated revenue within the free groups in comparison to those of state funded companies.   

The performing arts sector is a labour-intensive sector. Personnel expenses make up the largest share of the organizations’ total expenses, while companies that own their venues have relatively high property costs. Therefore, economic pressures and a reliance on box office revenue will often encourage risk-averse artistic decisions.   

During 2023 the state support for the Finnish performing arts field increased by 2,3 % to 134 million euros. The municipal aid to performance increased by 1,9 %. The revenue generated by the organisations themselves increased by 27 % from the previous year to 90 million euros. 

 

Most of the large companies in Finland are repertory theatres with a permanent ensemble. During 2023 the state-subsidized organisations employed personnel for 3 755 person-years (+ 19). The intermittently employed personnel’s share of these person-years was 32 %.  

The number of artistic freelancers at the state-subsidized theatres, the Finnish National Theatre and the independent groups was 6 522, a higher number still than in the years before the pandemic. The state-subsidized theatres and the National Theatre have never recorded as many freelance engagements for actors (16 % more than in 2019). The so-called free field employed permanently 61 people, a decrease of 22 % from the previous year.  

 

 

Contrary to popular belief, it is more probable that the director of a state-subsidized theatre is led by a woman than a man. 54 % of all the leaders of the state-subsidized theatres were women in 2023, though work titles vary. If only ‘artistic leaders’ or ‘theatre directors’ are considered, the men outnumber the women. The five largest theatres in terms of personnel years are all led by a man.  

The average salary at the large or mid-sized theatres was 3 297,75 euros/month. The average salary for a female employee at a state-subsidized Finnish theatre was 146,72 euros less than the average for a male. The smallest salary difference is among directors (0,84 cents), while female dramaturges and set designers earn more than their male counterparts. 

 

The structure of Finnish theatre repertoires has remained the same. City theatres function as repertory theatres that offer a variety of productions, while new writing or devised performances continues to be at the centre of the free groups. Productions based on Finnish works are produced almost twice as many much as performances based on foreign works at the state-subsidized theatres and the National Theatre. 92 % of the repertoires of the free groups were based on Finnish works. 

The repertory profiles of the city theatres and those of independent theatre and performing arts companies differ from each other. Devised performances and other nonmainstream forms and genres (including e.g., puppetry, avant-garde productions, site-specific and socially engaged practices) dominate the repertoires of independent groups and companies, whereas especially musicals have an important role on the repertoires of city theatres. 

 

   

The number of theatre, dance and circus performances grew by 13 % compared to the year before, and the number of spectators by 22 %. The number of spectators for theatre, dance and circus amounted to 3,5 million in 2023, though it varied between 3,7 and 4,1 million in the years before the pandemic.  

Though Helsinki and the capital area continue to dominate the statistics, other regions in Finland have in addition to professional performances also vibrant amateur theatres with high spectator numbers.