An elegy of solace, memories, and broken dreams
Two very different people, a chanteuse, Jeanette and, a poet, Rabah meet by accident.
Jeannette ran away from home as a teenager to become a singer. Her big dreams of stardom have been shattered by war, and she has ended up performing in grimy nightclubs.
Years later, Jeannette and Rabah meet again. Jeannette has begun helping Rabah whose alcohol-infused bohemian lifestyle and allegedly revolutionary writings have driven him to the street, and to mental hospital. Now, Rabah lives with Jeannette. They are lonely, but they have each other.
Basim Kahar’s Oranges (برتقال, Burtuqal, 2020) is a wistfully beautiful, intense, and poetically philosophical two-hander. Artists broken by hostile environment embody alienation, the difficulty of loving, finding solace in one another, and the eternal incompleteness of life. Making his debut at the Finnish National Theatre, the performance is directed by Jarno Kuosa, and features superlative Meri Nenonen and Niko Saarela.
Appelsiinit is brought to stage by the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Maailma näyttämölle project that funds translation of modern play texts into Finnish and supports their production in Finnish theatres.
The play’s performance rights are managed by Nordic Drama Corner Ltd.
Production Team
Cast Meri Nenonen and Niko Saarela
Director Jarno Kuosa Original text Basim Kahar Finnish translation Sampsa Peltonen Set design Jarno Kuosa and Tinja Salmi Costume design Saija Siekkinen Lighting design Ilkka Niskanen Sound design Eero Nieminen Dramaturg Eva Buchwald