Finland
Directing & Text
Pauli Patinen
Well quoted, skillfully stolen or cleverly sampled? The cult of genius is out and this journey into the heart of quotations is a real adventure.
Language
Finnish with German and Englisch surtitles
Duration
90 min
In art, people often want to know: who had the idea first? Why is it like that? Maybe because you can make money with a good idea. Or can become famous.
Pauli Patinen, *1993, is a writer and director. He studied theatre in Helsinki (Finland) and in Giessen (Germany). Pauli thinks that we all influence each other. What we read, listen to and watch also changes us. In the play, the actor Juho Keränen performs scenes that have been “stolen” from other plays.
When the company Tobis accused Charlie Chaplin in 1936 of plagiarising the film FREEDOM FOREVER by Réne Clair in his film MODERN TIMES, Clair defended his colleague by pointing out that Chaplin had done him, Clair, the honour of making a homage to him in his film. The question of the original is not just about a source of income in a competitive market. It’s also a myth that’s connected to the concepts of genius and the avant-garde in art, with artistic innovation or special subjectivity. But what does art need this status for?
In his master’s production at the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts, Helsinki, Pauli Patinen and his team send the actor Juho Keränen and the audience on a tour of “stolen” theatre moments. Based on the idea that we ourselves are always already a collection of the things that have shaped or influenced us, our own serial novel and that of those who came before us, the stage is turned into a player, a cabinet of curiosities for a journey into the heart of quotations. And the performance turns into a very special kind of adventure.
Pauli Patinen, *1993, graduated in 2025 with a Master’s degree in dramaturgy and playwriting from the Theatre Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, with additional studies in choreography and performance at the Institute for Applied Theatre Studies, Justus Liebig University, Gießen. He is a director, writer and performance maker based in Helsinki, currently working as a dramaturge at the &, Espoo Theatre, there.
With Juho Keränen
Directing & Dramaturgy Pauli Patinen
Scenography Anni Hernetkoski Lighting & Video Design Ville Tolvanen Sound Design Axel Ridberg Costume Design Ellen Jarnefelt Stagehands Anni Hernetkoski, Mikael Karkkonen Photos Jere J. Aalto, Darina Rodionova (Portrait Pauli Patinen)
The performance was produced at the University of the Arts (Uniarts) Helsinki as the master’s thesis of Pauli Patinen, Anni Hernetkoski, Ville Tolvanen and Axel Ridberg.
Content Notes