There’s a lot to celebrate this year, as 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence and the 70th anniversary of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. This is also the 7th year of the From Start to Finnish showcase. We are pleased to present you four exciting shows from Finland.

HELGA – LIFE OF DIVA EXTRAORDINAIRE
by Kallo Collective
13:30 (50 min), AUG 3 – 27 (not 14, 21)
C South Main Theatre (St. Peter’s, Lutton Place)

Meet Helga, cabaret diva extraordinaire! At least, she used to be… Through mime, clowning and circus, this poignant physical comedy reflects on how it feels when our bodies don’t do what they used to. Tragedy and comedy meet as Helga invites us into her world, from the mundane details of her day to the fabulous memories of her life, skilfully performed by international circus artist Henni Kervinen and directed by Jenni Kallo, Artistic Director of the renowned Kallo Collective (Only Bones, Edinburgh Fringe 2016). ‘Absurd comedy and sparkling wit…’ LapinKansa.fi.

I AM FARANSIS W.
by sadsongskomplex:fi
17:45 (75 min), AUG 6 – 27 (not 14, 21)
Summerhall Old Lab

Is the world out of joint? Who is torturing whom? How does it feel to be poor? Why is the water calling out? Where are you now, Woyzeck? A new play by award-winning Finnish playwright/ director Jari Juutinen, based loosely on Büchner’s classic Woyzeck. A theatrical kaleidoscope and a mixture of a TV game show, interrogation and a Kafkaesque nightmare, it asks where the world is going now as we define our neighbours by colour, religion, nationality – or just our day-to-day prejudices or intuitions.

DATES AT THE SPEED OF SOUND!
by ACE-Production
19:45 (75 min), AUG 2 – 27 (not 3, 14, 21)
Summerhall Library Gallery

From Helsinki, a brand new speed-dating concept for theatre-lovers. Relax and enjoy one of two sparkling comedies about first dates in restaurants, from prolific Finnish screenwriter John Lundsten. Then, take part in a session of super-sonic, high-energy, low-risk speed-dating, hosted by our actors; the perfect way to find that soulmate/casual partner/festival pal or simply experience a bunch of encounters with random fellow humans in a congenial setting (delete as applicable!)Your ticket includes the show, speed-dating session and fast-track notice of any mutual attractions. All genders and ages (18+) welcome.

RAMY – IN THE FRONTLINE
by Viirus Theatre
20:40 (75 min), AUG 2 – 13 (not 3, 7)
Summerhall Red Lecture Theatre

Tahrir Square, 2011. The Arab Spring. 22-year old Ramy Essam stood singing battle songs with hundreds of thousands of other protesters, insisting on the resignation of President Mubarak. He became an iconic representation of the Egyptian people. Since then the violent events of the revolution have had a drastic impact on Ramy’s life and values. Today he is exiled in Finland and Sweden, where he was offered sanctuary. He now tours internationally with his songs about democracy and peace. This is a live report where the audience gets to meet Ramy and bears witness to his testimony.

From Start to Finnish is celebrating it’s 6th consecutive year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe! This year we proudly present you a complete package of theatre, dance and circus performances, including ACE-Productions’s political satire The Chicken Trial, Carl Knif Company’s solo dance RED, and Circo Aereo & Thomas Monckton’s one-man circus comedy The Pianist.

The Chicken Trial, written by Finnish journalist and playwright Johanna Koljonen, directed by Swedish director Fredrick Lundqvist, is a political comedy inspired by the 2008 trial of art student Makode Linde, prosecuted for bringing a magician’s hat full of chickens to an animal-themed art event at a nightclub. This play will be performed by an all-Scottish cast at Pleasance Courtyard The Cellar between August 3 – 28, daily at 14:15 except for August 15 and 22.

Carl Knif’s solo RED is an intimate portrait of an individual struggling with an inner red alert. The performance is about extremes. You could call them emergencies of emotion. At times, it’s about life and death but mostly about life. This performance is a map. Knif has taken a red marker pen and pointed out moments in his life that have felt really meaningful, or the opposite, lost all their meaning. You can find this show at Dance Base between August 5 – 21, daily at 21:00 except for August 8 and 15.

After a big success at Fringe 2014, the solo comic contemporary circus piece The Pianist by Circo Aereo and Thomas Monckton is coming back to the Fringe for a second round. The show is centred on, in, under and around one of the most magnificent of all musical instruments: the grand piano. Accompanying this elegant apparatus is the poised pianist himself. Only he is so focused on impressing everyone that, before he realises it, his show has transformed from the highbrow concert he hoped for into a spectacularly amusing catastrophe. To salvage his somewhat unsalvageable dignity, the pianist draws on his imagination and comes up with some rib-tickling and absurd results. The Pianist will be performed at Assembly Roxy Central between August 4-29, daily at 12:25 PM except for August 10, 15 and 22.

“…mischievous and hilarious…”

So did The Mumble review Dark Side of the Mime and gave it 5 stars!

Read the whole review here: The Mumble Cirque

Darkside of the Mime is an audacious, dark and dirty romp that will have Marcel Marceau turning in his grave. Its raunchy humour will take you by surprise.  You will love this new kind of mimical clownery with splatter and porn. Makes you roar with laughter! The show runs at Assembly Roxy Central daily at 23:15 until 30th Aug.

From Start to Finnish continues it’s 5th year at the Fringe and is presenting four shows of different genres this year.

Loranga, Masarin and Dartanjang is a children’s play based on the book of Astrid Lindgren Award winner Barbro Lindgren. If daddy-Loranga isn’t listening to pop music and eating ice cream and fish paste sandwiches, then he’s out riding his giraffe, getting himself arrested and thrown into jail. Meanwhile semi-demented grandpa- Dartanjang can’t decide if he’s a tiger tamer, a first nation tribal chief, or a master painter and/or plumber. So the brightest of the three, child-Masarin, must always watch their backs, even when they turn into dogs.

The Outsider is a contemporary circus show created by the award-winning Finnish magician Janne Raudaskoski. The performance evokes the visual style of the silent films simultaneously taking them into a contemporary format – in full colour and stunning special effects! The Outsider is delightful fantasy for grown-ups which has gathered standing ovations around the Europe.

The Year of the Hare is a comedy theatre loosely based on the famous The hero of this story is middle-aged, middle-class, and works 12-hour days in his office cubicle, the highlights of his life long passed. However, a chance encounter with an eccentric hare re-awakens his lust for life and he finds himself on an epic and surreal journey through a world with rules and values he no longer accepts. The Year of the Hare is a riotous but touching comedy about human beings and other animals living together in a rapidly changing world with more and more problems, but seemingly fewer and fewer solutions.

Darkside of the Mime is an audacious, dark and dirty romp that will have Marcel Marceau turning in his grave. Its raunchy humour will take you by surprise.  You will love this new kind of mimical clownery with splatter and porn. Makes you roar with laughter!

Please check out our show pages or the following brochure for more information.

Chaplin has received a 4-star review by Libby Purves.

“You will tramp across a lot of cobbles this Fringe before you see a finer performance…”

Read the whole review by clicking here: Libby Purves reviews

Chaplin runs at Pleasance Courtyard Forth until 24 Aug daily at 12:20.