New Plays from Finland

Marie Kajava

Marie Kajava (born 1980) is a Helsinki-based freelance writer, playwright and dramaturge. She received her M.A. in theatre arts from the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 2016 where she is also currently working as a teacher for the same subject. Kajava has written plays, performance scripts born from devising processes, and various other performative texts. Alongside her theatrical work, Kajava has written articles on human rights, refugees, and international development questions. 
 
Her most recent play, Undress me, then (2023) is based on documentary material collected while living amongst nomads from various parts of the African continent. Her play Nora (2018) was adapted from Henrik Ibsen’s classic play, A Doll’s House, and was written in collaboration with Alma Lehmuskallio for Theatre Jurkka. The play deals with the construction and pigeonholing of women and the female identity. Her 2016 play, Famine (Nälänhätä), is built around Kevin Carter’s iconic photograph of a malnourished Sudanese child from 1993 and the play asks what we see and feel when we watch another person suffering. Her 2013 play, Lullaby, is about remembering, genocide, and turning one’s back on one’s own children, nations, and continents.  

Selected plays