The Wanderer

The Wanderer by Houkka Bros. was based on the book The Way of A Russian Pilgrim, starting like this: "By the Grace of God I am a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner and by my calling a homeless wanderer of humblest origin, roaming from place to place. My possessions consist of a knapsack with dry crusts of bread on my back and in my bosom the Holy Bible. This is all."

The three Finns in Houkka Bros. brought their audience on a wandering in The Wanderer. In Bergen the wandering started at BIT Teatergarasjen, continuing to a, for the audience, unknown place. In Oslo the wandering started at Anker Hotel, going along the river Akerselva to Hausmania. The wanderings ended in an evening gathering around a large table, where Houkka Bros. retold the pilgrim legend using words and chalked lines, threads of yarn and soft stuffed animal toys.

The story was about the little things and the very biggest questions in life at the same time.

Juha Valkeapää tells the following story about the creative process:

"I sang the first version to the guys. It was not good. To tell a religious story like in church, reciting & singing, wouldn’t work in theatre. We walked to the sea and had coffee. Sitting there around the table we just got the idea to do it just like that, sitting around the table. We went back to the theatre we were rehearsing at, and started to tell the story around a table. That was the first day. In the evening of the third day we had our first audience. The fourth day we drove to Kajaani to realise that we can't do the piece there where we had planned to do it; in a dungeon at the ruins of Kajaani castle. The Wanderer tells about joyful things, you can’t do it in dark and wet gaol. Well, the next day we found the right place for us, an old yellow house beside the bus station. We painted the table we found there with chalkboard paint and the place was ready for our show."

The production is part of a trilogy with Heart Talk (a prologue to The Wanderer) and Children, birds and flowers - a lesser musical.

The Wanderer was supported by Arts Council of Finland. The visiting performance was supported by The Finnish-Norwegian Culture Institute and Arts Council Norway.

Sources: BIT Teatergarasjen, spring program 2006. 13.09.2010: http://www.bit-teatergarasjen.no/article/64

The performance program, BIT Teatergarasjen 2006