A grim apartment. Purgatory. An empty picture frame hangs on the wall, and a deserted birdcage rests on the table. Noora feels a tightness in her chest and a pounding in her head. From downstairs, the sounds of sauna and howling rise, while from upstairs comes hurried thumping and clinking. If you fill out the forms correctly and stay active, it’s possible to reach Heaven. After all, it’s all up to you.
Satan’s Callback is a contemporary puppet theatre piece that offers a glimpse into the human experience of unemployment. This carnivalesque and timely performance tells the story of 28-year-old Noora Kalliala, who gets caught in the clutches of a hellish bureaucracy while desperately striving for a place in Heaven. Satan’s sauna sessions in Hell and the efficiency of capital-serving Heaven frame the unemployed person’s struggle in purgatory, a state of eternal waiting and barely getting by. The performance reminds us that societal conditions can be improved while respecting individuals’ lives and honouring their freedom of choice.
If you have never experienced unemployment, this show is for you.
If Kela’s hold music is a painfully familiar earworm, this show is for you.
If you’re in a position where you make decisions about people’s livelihoods, regardless of your, political stance, this show is especially for you.
The performances will be subtitled.
Working group: Diabolos
Direction, dramaturgy, and sound design: Tella Vahala
Performance, dramaturgy and set design: Karoliina Karkki Illi
Puppet construction: Eve Mäkitalo
Assistant: Emmi Astikainen
Photos and videos: Sonja Tolonen
Consulting dramaturg: Klaus Maunuksela
Production cooperation: HIT Helsinki, Aura of Puppets
Voice actors: Karoliina Karkki Illi (Finnish and English), Eve Mäkitalo (Finnish), Jessica Thomson (English), Nelli Hautala (Finnish and English), Jarno Huhtala (Finnish and English), Antti Oksanen (Finnish) and Bahadir Gürkan (English)
Satan’s Callback is a co-production by HIT Helsinki and the Diabolos group.
The performance is supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the City of Helsinki, Arts Promotion Center Finland, the Teaterstiftelsen Vivicas Vänner, and the puppetry network Aura of Puppets.
