New Plays from Finland

Mika Myllyaho (born 1966) is a Finnish playwright, director and actor who completed his M.A in directing at the Helsinki Theatre Academy in 1999. He has been the head director of the Finnish National Theatre since 2010, expanding the theatre’s activities and welcoming a variety of joint productions and touring performances to the venue as well as successfully directing socio-politically conscious foreign plays from playwrights such as Brecht and Arrabal. Prior to his position at the National Theatre, he was working as the artistic co-director of the Helsinki-based Ryhmäteatteri in addition to teaching directing at the Helsinki Theatre Academy. 

As a playwright, Myllyaho is best known for his acclaimed trilogy of plays: Panic (Paniikki, 2005), Chaos (Kaaos, 2008), and Harmony (Harmonia, 2009). The trilogy tackles the individual’s struggle to conform to the demands of the contemporary society which externally dictates and defines how one should live. The trilogy has been translated into numerous languages, making Myllyaho one of Finland’s most-translated and internationally recognized playwrights.  

His most recent play, Garage (Korjaamo), premiered in 2018 in the Finnish National Theatre and was due performed at the New Nordics Festival in London in the spring of 2020. The play juxtaposes the lives of auto repairman and a school principal, exploring questions in class divide and human worth.