Estonian Drama Theatre dramaturg and playwright Mehis Pihla will take part in a public conversation at the Tampere Theatre Festival, discussing how real events and documentary material can be transformed into drama.
On 6 August at 15:00, playwrights Mehis Pihla and Elli Salo will meet audiences at the Eino Salmelainen Foyer as part of the Tampere Theatre Festival. The conversation will focus on writing for the stage from real events, documentary material and collective memory.
Mehis Pihla’s Business as Usual (Rahamaa) at the Estonian Drama Theatre and Elli Salo’s The Day of Remembrance (Muistopäivä) at the Finnish National Theatre have both been sold out night after night and have sparked broad public discussion in their respective countries. Both works deal with real events and the question of how theatre can bring shared histories, social tensions and public trust into the space of live performance.
In Tampere, Pihla and Salo will discuss how documentary material influences their writing, how fiction can shape our understanding of real events, and what role testimony and collective memory play in contemporary theatre. The conversation will also ask how a play can alter our perception of a nation’s shared stories — and what kind of power theatre has when it brings those stories to the stage.
The interview will be conducted by critic, journalist and publisher Maria Säkö. The event will be held in English.
Playbooks will be available for purchase at the event.
The Day of Remembrance and Business as Usual – from Documentary Material to Drama
Thursday, 6 August 2026 at 15:00
Eino Salmelainen Foyer, Tampere
Interviewees: playwrights Mehis Pihla and Elli Salo
Interviewer: Maria Säkö
Language: English
Free admission
The event is organised by the Writers Guild of Finland and Teatterin Uusi Alkukirjasto (TUA) in cooperation with the Tampere Theatre Festival.