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Finnish-American Theatre
Finnish-American theatre returns to the Cape Ann stage with the addition of Swedish and Norwegian humor, all to celebrate Midsummer Fest! At the Old Sloop First Congregational Church Hall, 12 School Street, Rockport, Thursday to Saturday, June 16-18 at 7:30 and Sunday, June 19 at 3 p.m.
The performance of staged readings done as a radio show, “The Cape Ann Home Companion” includes two one act plays, a recitation by permission of the author Garrison Keillor of “The Finn Who Would Not Take a Sauna”, played by Nelson Pike, and, to include the Swedish and Norwegian tradition, a melange of Ole and Lena jokes. All this sponsored by commercials for Claire’s Nisu (If you want sisu, eat your nisu), Cape Ann Finn Coffee (So good there is no last drop) and Spiran Lodge’s Swedish Pancake Mix (A Swedish pancake is a perfect pancake).
The first play, “The Finnish Boarding House” by Anonymous, takes place in the 1920s in a boarding house for quarry workers on Cape Ann. The hero, Sam Natti, played by Chuck Francis, is being coached by his friends to pass the American citizenship exam, including such difficult questions as on what day does the Fourth of July occur. Friends, Kosti and Reino, (Martin Ray and Karl Pulkkinen) convince him
to bring over a mail order wife from Finland with surprising consequences. The second one-act “Out With the Cat” by Aili Linden is set in 1950s Finland. A bootlegger, Jooseppi, played by Terry Sands, is challenged by two police officers (Karl Pulikkinen and Gary Belcher) but fobs them off with his deafness and the help of his wife’s (Sarah Clark) women friends (Eileen Fitzgerald and Anne Hyde) who tempt the officers with their feline wiles abetted by that sweet scent Channel Number 5.
A donation of $10 at the door is suggested and will benefit the ministries of the Old Sloop First Congregational Church. Nisu and coffee will be served during intermission.