Finnish National Theatre
Finland's oldest professional theatre in a granite National Romantic building on Railway Square.
The Finnish National Theatre is the country's oldest professional Finnish-language theatre, founded in Pori in 1872 as the Finnish Theatre and moved to Helsinki shortly afterwards. Its own house on the northern side of Railway Square opened in 1902 to a design by Onni Tarjanne, built in rough grey granite with steep roofs and asymmetrical gables in the National Romantic manner then emerging in Finland. A statue of the writer Aleksis Kivi stands on the square in front of it.
The company works across four stages: the Large Stage, the Small Stage, the studio-like Willensauna and Omapohja, the last two housed in a 1954 extension. Its repertoire combines Finnish classics, new domestic writing and international drama, and many performances offer English captions through a mobile subtitle application. The building has been renovated in phases since 2021, covering the facade and the technical and staff facilities behind the Small Stage.
Highlights
- Onni Tarjanne's granite National Romantic building of 1902
- Oldest professional Finnish-language theatre, founded in 1872
- Four stages, from the Large Stage to the studio spaces Willensauna and Omapohja
- English captions offered on many performances via a mobile app
