Kiasma Theatre, Contemporary Art Museum, Helsinki 2002.
The performance of Kaspar at Kiasma Theatre searched for and dealt with the conditions of language and communication skills. Kaspar was not a description of an event; it was an event itself. The performance commented and processed the tension between individual and community; expressing this through movement, speech, special sound effects, and reflected video and still pictures.
As a name Kaspar can be associated with a popular German clown, as well as the sensational foundling child from 18th century Germany. The character called Kaspar a marionette, who tries to put the surroundings he is in, in an understandable order.
Alongside Kaspar, another essential element in the performance is the ”world of whisperers”, which is watching and counselling Kaspar’s growth, until Kaspar is cloned into five characters. In some moments ”the world of whispers” takes a physical form: it is a man with huge authority, providing Kaspar a counter force.
In the Kaspar production’s visual design the Kiasma theatre’s character as a high-tech stage was emphasized. The play made use of the offered possibility for chroma key video technique. As a result, some of the scenes on stage were sampled against a new background in the edit room and projected on the stage. In the visualization of the play the theatrical act as a performance was underlined and the stage was emphasized as a real site that was part of a building. Therefore the stage was highlighted as especially a technical machine. There was no set design on it, only objects from Kiasma that the actors had made use of.
Duration of the performance was approximately one and half hours. Director: Vilppu Kiljunen. Actors: Kalle Holmberg and Esa-Matti Pölhö. Translation: Tuomas Nevanlinna.
