Description
Helsinki 98's breakthrough work Neuvostoihmisen loppu returns to the repertoire in autumn 2026. The performance, based on Svetlana Aleksijevitš's documentary prose, has achieved exceptional audience success: 73 of 75 performances have been sold out. The work is the world's most performed theatrical adaptation based on Svetlana Aleksijevitš's production. The first international visit will be seen on 6.10.2026 in Tallinn, when Neuvostoihmisen loppu is performed at Vaba Lava theatre. xxx "What is the most shocking thing here? What kills me? A crushed idea! Communism has been betrayed! Everything is in pieces!" NEUVOSTOIHMISEN LOPPU, based on the documentary novel of the same name by Belarusian Nobel laureate Svetlana Aleksijevitš, tells the story of 87-year-old Vasili Petrovitš N. The Soviet Union has already collapsed and communism is ridiculed, but Vasili Petrovitš still believes in the idea. He is a loyal cadre of the party. Aleksijevitš's genre is documentary prose, in which she examines the destruction of Utopia, i.e., the communist and totalitarian Soviet Union. Aleksijevitš interviewed Vasili Petrovitš in the early 1990s. NEUVOSTOIHMISEN LOPPU brings to the fore a worldview in which Russia's current government has also grown up. It is the first stage work in Finland based on Svetlana Aleksijevitš's text. The performance is staged in the premises of an old high school decommissioned from school use in Vuosaari, East Helsinki. In the performance, the spaces transform into a brutal Russian nursing home of the 1990s. The main role is played by Sami Lanki. The premiere of the play was on 15.9.2023. Press reviews: "Neuvostoihmisen loppu is such a merciless X-ray of Russian dictator faith that one would wish it festival invitations raining all over Europe." "Sami Lanki is the sovereign center of the stage. He doesn't give a moment's peace on stage. An enormously intense role performance." – Demokraatti 7.8.2025 "Rarely have I seen a performance where video installations support the action on stage as well as in this interpretation."' – Kulttuuritoimitus.fi 6.8.2025 "Although Aleksijevitš's important documentary novel is set specifically on the ruins of the Soviet Union, every moment of the play carries the feeling that this is not about history but about the present moment." – Voima 16.10.2023 The performance is produced by HELSINKI 98. The production is part of the Maailma näyttämölle project supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation. The play has also been supported by the City of Helsinki and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland. HELSINKI 98 is a theatre group that explores the question: "What can art be after 24.2.2022?" The set designer and video creator of NEUVOSTOIHMISEN LOPPU, Pavel Semchenko, received the 2024 Säde award for the performance's videos, and Sami Lanki was one of seven nominees of the Finnish Actors' Union for theatre actor of the year for his main role. On 5.-6.8.2025, the play was performed in the main programme of the Tampere Theatre Festival. NEUVOSTOIHMISEN LOPPU – WORKING GROUP: Author: Svetlana Aleksijevitš Translation: Director and Martti-Tapio Kuuskoski Roles: Vasili Petrovitš N – Sami Lanki; Nurse and other roles – Elli Närjä Direction, adaptation