This holiday season The Moomins take over Jacksons Lane in a brand-new circus production for the whole family.
As one of the most well-known products of Finnish culture, Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories have over the years been adapted into art of all sorts. In addition to animations and other media, there have been stage plays, contemporary dance works and even an opera back in the 70s. Circus, however, has remained an uncharted territory for the lovable Moomin family – until now.
This Christmas The Moomins take to the stage at Jacksons Lane in Christmas Comes to Moominvalley, a new adaptation of Tove Jansson’s classic tale, The Fir Tree. The all-ages show tells the story of how the Moomin family prepares for their first Christmas after being woken up from their winter sleep, even though they’re not quite sure what this ‘Christmas’ even is.
Jacksons Lane has been a partner and support of Finnish circus for 10 years now, through partnerships and collaborations with Circus & Dance Info, Cirko, The Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland and the Finnish Embassy in London. They have programmed and supported over 150 Finnish artists and presented almost 50 performances.
Adrian Berry, the Artistic Director & Joint CEO of Jacksons Lane, answered a few questions about how the show came to be and what the audience can expect to see and experience.
Where did the idea of bringing the Moomins to Jacksons Lane’s stage come from?
– The relationship with Moomin Characters came through The Finnish Institute and we met with their team, led by CEO Roleff Kråkström. They seemed really excited by our presentation and we have been going through the process over the last year of submitting more ideas and proposals, from costumes to music to design. We have now cast the production Christmas Comes to Moominvalley and begin our first research and development days in September before proper rehearsals start in November, running up to 53 performances in total over the festive period.
Why circus and how does the world of circus combine with the world of the Moomins?
– Well, circus is what we do best and what we are known for, but particularly the notion of a circus Moomins show is totally new and unique. Whilst we won’t have Moominpappa flying through the sky, we will certainly have juggling, acrobatics, perhaps some trapeze and unicycling. Director Kaveh Rahnama is faithfully adapting Tove Jansson’s text and Alison Alexander has designed some astonishing life-size Moomin body puppets. We can’t wait to present our creation to the world, Berry concludes.
Roleff Kråkström, the CEO of Moomin Characters, agrees with Berry.
– We’re very excited about this partnership with Jacksons Lane. After hearing their proposal, we felt that having a modern circus show would be an excellent addition to the Moomins’ 80th anniversary programme.
Christmas Comes to Moominvalley is a Jacksons Lane production commissioned by Moomin Characters in partnership with The Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland. The show runs from 6 December 2024 to 5 January 2025.