Red Pearl Clown Festival is once again on the cutting edge! We will witness, among other things, the first artificial intelligence clown, journey through environmental destruction, species extinction, and pulp mills to healing rituals, and peek into the cemetery that awaits each of us.
Most clowns have traditionally been male, but Dance Theatre Hurjaruuth’s Red Pearl Clown Festival serves as a reminder that first-class clowns of other genders can be found in the Nordic countries and all over the world. Organized for the first time in 2012, the festival focuses on women and clowns from diverse genders.
This year’s festival showcases four Finnish and two international full-length performances and a clown soirée consisting of several mini performances.
The festival opens with Kallo Collective & Teatteri Metamorfoosi’s Into the Wild, a satirical, physical and visual theatre performance that guides us to restoring our relationship with nature, exploring the ambivalent relationship humans have with the natural world.
The Matriarch by Johanna Keinänen and Taru Kivinen is a dance-like monologue, a graceful speech from the space between life and death, performed in Finnish. Satu Rekola & Nina Viitamäki’s JooEi! (YesNo!) is a clowning performance about friendship, dreams and their fulfilment, joys and excitement, and the difficulties of everyday life for the whole family. Good game (work in progress) performed by Susanna Pukkila is inspired by world class ice hockey players, combining clowning, drag and character comedy.
International guests at this year’s Red Pearl are Monia Baldini (IT), who brings her award-winning show Be My Guest to Helsinki, and Joanna Bassi (FR/UK) with her performance AI Clown.
The festival bar is open every night in the theatre’s foyer, and on three festival days, you can also try your luck free of charge in Madame T’s (Taina Mäki-Iso) safe gaming cave. And finally, the festival caps off with Clown Soirée 2024, an unforgettable evening of mini performances by Finnish clowns and an international guest.
The festival takes place 8–16 March 2024 with performances on the Hurjaruuth stage (Cable Factory A staircase, 2nd floor; Tallberginkatu 1 A, Helsinki) and in the Turbine hall at the Cable Factory (Kaapeliaukio 3, Helsinki). Tickets are available via Hurjaruuth’s website.