Kolga

Kolga is a stage interpretation of a poem by Tommi Parkko. The performance combines theatre and circus skills together with music, to create a meaningful and atmospheric production with striking imagery and memorable sound and lighting design.

Kolga is a place on the shoreline of Estonia, directly across the Baltic Sea from Finland. It is a place on the edge, where land and sea meet, a place for mind-clearing and contemplation.

Kolga premiered in Helsinki in October 2016. It visits Feile na Bealtanaine festival in Ireland in April 28-29, 2017 in An Lab Theatre. After that Kolga is seen in the Teresa Pomodoro Prize event, on May 3rd and 4th at Spazio Teatro No’Hma, Milan.

The poem is divided into three verses which inform the hour-long performance.

The first verse describes Kolga, a metaphor for the mind, in its timeless surrealistic aspects.

The second is full of tension, frustrated waiting, and anxiety.

The third brings us to the present moment, to a sense of clarity and presence.

The final words of the poem are: This is the end of the world.

Kolga was well received by critics in Helsinki who wrote:

‘The poem by Tommi Parkko is like a recipe, from which Myllyteatteri concocted an extraordinary piece for the stage. Henna Kaikula’s surpasses herself with an astonishing performance. She extended the concept of humanity in Kolga, bending reality itself with the many amazing characters she created and presented.’ – Aleksis Salusjarvi, YLE (Finnish Broadcasting Company)

‘Kolga probes the cavities of the human mind and avoids surface realities. Everything appears to function in accordance with Artaud’s concept of ‘poetics of space’ where music, mime, gestures and lighting create a whole. In Kolga the aesthetic elements merge and collectively result in the theatrical event.’

* The poem Kolga was published in the first collection of Tommi Parkko, “Lyhyt muisti, meri” (Tammi 1997).