My learning path with NÄTY: Hannes Mikkelsson

The first year included the acting work lessons of Hanno Eskola, the key content of which was to work on bringing various source materials to the stage. We prepared small performances, “clown versions” on the basis of art exhibitions, poems, plays and performances. The way I see it, the goal of Eskola’s teaching was an autonomous actor with the ability to independently infuse their acting work with thinking and an interesting, energetic presence. The first year of studies also included playback theatre, the Alexander technique, tai chi and singing and speech lessons. The playback theatre and Alexander technique taught by Tiina Syrjä continued throughout the five-year studying.

With regard to our class, the second and third years included numerous projects. Ari Numminen, a lecturer of dance, directed the dance work Meren yllä monen värinen pilvi for us, due to which our class practised movement and dancing for a long time, fairly intensively. The following production was an adaptation of Tohvelisankarin rouva directed by Hanno Eskola. It was performed in Mandarin Chinese. During the rehearsal process, we studied the kind of acting, energy and presence a foreign language inspires in the performer. One of the most memorable experiences of my years as a student was the performance of Tohvelisankarin rouva in the city of Guangzhou in China for an audience of 1,200. They applauded almost every line we uttered. The third year began with the performance of Jerusalemin tanssi, directed by Yrjö Juhani Renvall. The work concerned a revivalist movement which influenced the Meänmaa region in the 1920s and 1930s. Jerusalemin tanssi was followed by a performance of Ollin oppivuodet at a children’s theatre. Eskola directed, while Arla Salo-Pursiainen, a lecturer of music, composed the music. The third year culminated in the writing of our respective Bachelor’s theses and the Bachelor plays, implemented in cooperation with the Theatre Academy. I was involved in the performance of Kahdeksan askelta pituussuuntaan, kolme poikittain, written and directed by Susanna Airaksinen and performed at the Theatre Academy.

In my opinion, the studies during the first three years emphasised our own relation to our bodies, expression, the use of voice and customary habits. The continuous examination of oneself and one’s own performances was extremely stressful at times, especially when it didn’t seem to relate to anything. In their work, an actor is always in a relationship with the audience, which is when the work sits within some kind of goal-oriented setting. During a long period of studying in a small school environment, however, you easily lose sight of the goal, and developing oneself starts to feel self-purposeful and frustrating. On the other hand, I also perceived my studying in relation to the group and my own class. The stage work shared with others, helping, learning and failure stole the attention from oneself and made the studying meaningful.

The professorship of Yrjö Juhani Renvall came to an end after my first three years followed by Pauliina Hulkko as a professor of NÄTY. All of the teachers, with the exception of lecturer Tiina Syrjä, also changed. I think of our class as privileged in the sense that we had the good fortune of experiencing two entirely different training methods, which nevertheless fell neatly within the same continuum in our case. In the summer between my third and fourth year of studies, I also participated in the Big Stage course implemented for the TTT-Theatre, which was a joint course with the students of the Theatre Academy. During the same summer, I also worked at Meriteatteri for the first time. Meriteatteri was established by my sister, Anni Mikkelsson, in the municipality Rymättylä, which is the location of our summer house. My colleagues included other NÄTY students from my own class and the class ahead of us.

The most memorable aspects of my final two years at NÄTY were the courses led by Pauliina Hulkko on the dramaturgy of an actor, documentary theatre and the dramaturgical encounters of text and body, as well as the Hipsterit production directed for our class by Hulkko, in which I acted as the director’s assistant. In addition to these, we had the Let’s Talk Politics evenings prepared by the students themselves and implemented in cooperation with the students of the School of Communication, Media and Theatre. The evenings were a combination of panel discussions, theatre performances and a joint discussion event. From a purely personal perspective, I was also influenced by the singing and music teaching of Sanni Orasmaa, Marc Gassot’s course on mimes, make-up and clowning, and my work experience in the Rechnitz – Tuhon enkeli performance of Jalostamo-kollektiivi.

The final two years did a fine job in complementing what I had learned during the first three years. The emphasis during the final two years was on the actor’s ability to verbalise their own working and thinking. When you can talk about your work, you have a better chance to influence what you do, who you do it with and for what reasons. A knowledge of the concepts and history of your own art also helps you to find environments and productions that interest you.

In the summer following my graduation I immediately continued theatre work in the manner already familiar to me – in other words, with our own Meriteatteri group. We organised a Meriteatteri festival in Rymättylä, in which we performed all of Meriteatteri’s earlier productions. Together with my classmate Ella Mettänen we also directed and wrote a children’s theatre play for the festival, in which we also acted. The next winter we recorded, produced and published the Lähtökäsky album with Meriteatteri. It contains pieces composed for the performances.

In the autumn, two of my classmates and I found our way to Third Space’s The Legend of the Tiny Bone production, which was performed at Turku Cathedral. In the spring of 2017, I started work in YLE’s traditional Christmas calendar show (Joulukalenteri), which was filmed over the year at Ylläs and Tampere. It was my first camera work on a larger scale and provided me with genuinely valuable experience in a traditional format. Most of the filming took place in the spring, overlapping with the rehearsals and performances of Meriteatteri’s Maailman Meri production. Maailman Meri was Meriteatteri’s first production that had its opening night in Helsinki, at the Korjaamo Culture Factory. In the autumn of 2017, the production was set to visit at least the Lainsuojattomat festival in Pori and teatteri Vanha Juko in Lahti.

In the spring, my sister and I were appointed artistic directors of Ylioppilasteatteri and, as I’m writing this, at the beginning of September 2017, the rehearsals of new productions at Ylioppilasteatteri have just begun. I don’t think I would have had the courage to apply for the position of artistic director without the teaching I received at NÄTY. An actor is at the centre of a theatre, and the diversity by which they perceive their profession has an enormous influence on what we see on the stage. It is my experience that NÄTY produces stage artists who know how to seek a path in the theatre business that suits them and who have the tools to work there.

Hannes Mikkelsson
Class of 2011–2016

Learn more about NÄTY and teaching in theatre arts at Tampere University