WHERE DID IT ALL START

At first, there was Kajaani. A small place, with 40 000 inhabitants, 600 kilometers of distance from Helsinki, and a brilliant theatre house. That was where Ella and Aino worked the whole autumn and winter of 2011. To get there took 6 and a half hours. There was plenty of time to read books. A lot of them. Ella had got this book as a present, it was called Fabolous Ella. Ella laughed out loud, and Aino became interested.

What is it, she asked.

It’s this person, Ella answered. She’s hilarious. She’s being presented as a misunderstood, adorable person – although every little thing she does is in a way or another over the top. 

Who is she, Aino asked.

It’s Ella Eronen, Ella said. The greatest diva of Finnish theatre.

Aino and Ella both read the book and fell in love with Ella. There was something so amiable about her – although she was at the same time both irritating and tragic character. She missed a show at the Finnish National Theatre, claiming her watch had stopped. And she actually became expelled twice for the same reason: She was on a holiday abroad and sent a letter to extend the trip. The letter never arrived. Neither of the letters. And after both cases, she was taken back to the theatre. All because she was Ella, a national icon.

It was a birth of a performance about two Ellas: One is the greatest diva Finnish theatre history remembers, and another an unemployed Finnish actor, struggling to find opportunities. And still, there is so much in common with them. The character. The guts. The burn and the need for stage.  And still: nowadays, even the immortable Ella is almost forgotten. The work of an actor vanishes almost immediately. So, what will be left of us, after our decease? What is our heritage to the world? What is important? Is there something that might live on of us, even after our death? 

Loistava Ella! - esitys Elloista Eronen ja Mustajärvi

LOISTAVA ELLA!


Loistava Companyn kiertävä esitys

Ensi-ilta Valtimonteatterissa 21.9.2012 klo 19.

Toinen ja kolmas esitys 22.9 klo 14 ja 19.

Ella Eronen oli suomalaisen teatterin viimeinen diiva. Hän oli nainen, joka rakensi uransa tyhjästä, teki määrätietoisesti työtä ja raivasi tien huipulle. Hän oppi täydellisen diivan elkeet ja rakensi itsestään myytin. Esityksessä Loistava Ella! Erosen rinnalle asettuu toinen Ella – nuori freelance-näyttelijä Ella Mustajärvi – joka pohtii omia ratkaisujaan ja tulevaisuuttaan. Suuren diivan tie näyttää yksinäiseltä, mutta mikä on toinen tie? Työttömyys? Unohdus? Mitättömyys?

Loistava Ella! kertoo maailmasta, jossa vaihtoehdot ovat joko menestyä tai kadota. Näkyvyys on kaikki kaikessa, ja sitä, mitä kukaan ei muista, ei ehkä koskaan ollutkaan.

Loistava Company on Teatterikorkeakoulusta vasta valmistuneiden, uunituoreiden ammattilaisten perustama villi ja vapaa ryhmä.  Kaikki ryhmän jäsenet teatterintekijöitä kolmissakymmenissään. He ovat aloittaneet harrastajateattereista, käyneet alan korkeakoulun ja tehneet töitä arvostetuissa ammattiteattereissa, laitoksissa ja vapaalla kentällä. Loistava Ella! on tekijöidensä mukaan “paluu kellareihin”, mutkattomaan yhdessä tekemiseen oman sukupolven aiheilla ja estetiikalla. 

Tiedustelut ja varaukset: loistavaella@gmail.com

Liput 12 / 8 e

Valtimonteatteri, Aleksis Kiven katu 21, sisäpiha

FABOLOUS ELLA! 

Loistava Company's Touring Performance

Premier at Valtimonteatteri on 21 Sept at 19.

Second and third performance on 22 Sept at 14 and 19.

Ella Eronen was the last diva of Finnish theatre. She build her career out of nothing, worked with a determination to succeed and made her way to the top. She learned to act a perfect diva and build a myth upon herself. In Loistava Company's performance Loistava Ella! there is also another Ella standing next to Eronen: it is Ella Mustajärvi, a young Finnish freelance actor, who studies Ella's life and reflects upon her own. The life of a great diva seems lonely, but what is the alternative? Unemployment? Nothingness? Being totally forgotten by everyone?

Fabolous Ella! is a performance about a world where the options are either to succeed or to vanish. 

Loistava Company is a wild and free group of fresh new Theatre Academy graduated professionals. According to the group, Fabolous Ella! is a "back to the freedom of amateur theatre" performance, a manifestation of working together with fresh energy, no money and new generation aesthetics and vision.

Tickets 12 / 8 e

For reservations and more information: loistavaella@gmail.com

Valtimonteatteri, Aleksis Kiven katu 21, court yard

TYÖRYHMÄ / GROUP

Esiintyjä / Performer: Ella Mustajärvi

Ohjaus / Director: Aino Kivi

Koreografi / Choreographer: Maija Nurmio

Pukusuunnittelija / Costume Designer: Outimaija Hakala

Valosuunnittelija / Light Designer: Juho Itkonen

Äänisuunnittelija / Sound Designer: Ville Leppilahti

Kuva / Picture: Sofia Pyykkö

Juliste / Poster: Milla Martikainen  

Fabolous Ella!

Fabolous Ella!

Ella Eronen was one of the most prominent theatre artists of her time. The greatest diva of Finnish theatre. Ever.
In people´s mind she was the biggest star, even to those who had never seen her perform on stage. She was born in early 1900, and died in 1987. Her real age was a mysterious secret: in Ella's world a true artist has the right to define one´s own age - a true artist is ageless.

Ella Eronen is remembered for her roles as strong women both in ancient tragedies and in modern drama in the Finnish National Theatre. Besides her theatre work, she arranged recital evenings and tours. 

Ella Eronen had a passionate relation to her work. She worked hard and even rent by her own money the National Theatre for her dance and recital evening in 1933. The big rise in Ella´s career happened during the Second World War when Ella recited the poem Vårt land (the National Anthem of Finland) at the Stockholm's Stadium. The occasion took on legendary dimensions, and Ella was characterised in the press as the voice of Finland in distress.

Behind her public image Ella´s intimate sphere was very small, consisting of family members, her housekeeper Leena, and relatives, as well as a few good friends. Ella Eronen did not like to be called diva. But she is The Big Diva, also called Die Ella, La Ella, Femme Fatale, Priestess of Love, The Sparkling Interpreter of Poems, Prophet of Prophets... Respect for Ella Eronen we can think The Diva in positive way, she was an intelligent and brave artist.

References:

Jaantila, Kirsti. 1971. Loistava Ella. WSOY. 

Mäkinen, Helka. 1997. Eronen, Ella (1900–1987) Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. Kansallisbiografia–verkkojulkaisu.

www.kansallisbiografia.fi/kb/artikkelit/1127 luettu 12.8.2012