Tampereen Työväen Teatteri marks 125 years with world premiere Käräjät and large-scale Wicked

According to ePressi, Tampereen Työväen Teatteri has revealed its 125th anniversary season, a programme of premieres, Nordic debuts and public events running from early September to late December 2026 that highlights new Finnish work alongside international titles.

The company traces its roots to late-19th-century worker drama societies and marks its founding as 27 September 1901, the premiere date of Minna Canth’s Anna-Liisa. Today TTT is counted among Finland’s national main stages. The anniversary season mixes homegrown adaptations with crowd-pleasing musicals.

The centrepiece will be Käräjät, a world premiere on 29 October 2026, written and directed by Sirkku Peltola and adapted from Markus Nummi’s novel. The autumn slate also includes five Finnish premieres, the Nordic premiere of Gilles Dyrekin’s Homma Ranskassa on 2 September at the Eino Salmelainen stage, and a large-scale production of Wicked opening 3 September on the Suuri näyttämö, directed and designed by the team behind TTT’s Beauty and the Beast; leads are Yasmine Yamajako and Nomi Enckell. Selja Ahava’s Ennen kuin mieheni katoaa opens 10 September in the Kellariteatteri. The announcement follows a strong 2025–26 season, when Beauty and the Beast attracted roughly 80,000 viewers and overall attendance rose substantially last season's attendance boost.

Performances will be paired with a packed side programme: a season opening gala on 24 September, a community theatre day and backstage tours on 27 September, a Designtori market and numerous author events linked to book-based productions. Guests include Markus Nummi and Sirkku Peltola, and late-autumn Kirjaetkot sessions will feature Pirkko Saisio and Salla Simukka. A Kellariteatteri remembrance evening on 2 October will mark Veikko Sinisalo’s 100th birthday, and the company will also present work at its recently opened 60-seat lounge stage the new lounge stage opening.

Acting artistic director Hanna Suutela said the season continues the company’s original purpose: "The mission of Tampereen Työväen Teatteri as a national stage is today the same as that of the company that began performances in 1901: to make diverse art, because art is about interpreting the world. The possibility of many perspectives is a prerequisite for all discussion." Full schedules and ticket information are on the theatre’s website; press images have been released for media use.