Tampereen Työväen Teatteri Artistic Director Jaakkola Returns to Kotka in 2026

Tampere Workers’ Theatre announced in a press release that its artistic director, Miko Jaakkola, will leave TTT to lead Kotka City Theatre in December 2026.

Jaakkola said he leaves with mixed emotions. Under his leadership, attendance rose: last year roughly 150,000 people visited the theatre and overall occupancy this season is about 90 percent, a turnaround from earlier declines.

He described the move as a personal homecoming. "The reasons are personal. Kotka has remained my hometown and returning to Kotka Theatre feels above all like a homecoming. Its role in building the region's and citizens' identity is significant," Jaakkola said. He added that he wants to defend a theatre network that keeps performance accessible beyond major growth centres and that he is satisfied with TTT’s artistic standards; in 2025 the company staged 19 premieres, 16 of them world premieres.

The change will not affect the current season’s programme or decisions already made. Programming was planned proactively through 2028 under Jaakkola, and responsibility for ongoing programme planning will transfer to dramaturge and professor Hanna Suutela, who has worked at TTT since 2019 and served as interim artistic director in 2023–2024.

Managing director Janne Auvinen praised Jaakkola’s work as a foundation for the future and said planning for recruitment of a new artistic director will begin immediately, calmly and carefully. Actor Maiju Saarinen thanked Jaakkola for their collaboration on Helene and wished him well in his next role.