Tomi Kristian Smeds (born 1 December 1970) is a Finnish playwright and theatre director. He has worked in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. In the autumn of 2007, he dramatized and directed an explosive production of Väinö Linna's '' The Unknown Soldier'' at the Finnish National Theatre. This re-interpretation of a cherished Finnish novel has been the most controversial theatrical event in Finland, provoking wide acclaim as well as fierce debate. Smeds' stage version was a great success. During 2007–2009 it was performed 122 times with 73,265 tickets sold. In 2007, Smeds established his own theatre group, Smeds Ensemble, which has partners around Europe. Smeds Ensemble had its first production, Mental Finland, premiered at the Royal Flemish Theatre (KVS) in February 2009. During the same year, the production toured in Finland, Lithuania, France and Austria. In 2011, Smeds dramatized and directed an adaptation of

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), ''Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), ''The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The Broo ...

's novel ''

Mr. Vertigo ''Mr. Vertigo'' is a novel written by the American author Paul Auster. Faber & Faber first published it in 1994 in Great Britain. The book fits well in Auster's bibliography, which has reappearing themes like failure and identity and genres like a ...

'' at the Finnish National Theatre. Same year, Smeds got awarded with the XII Europe Prize Theatrical Realities as a first Scandinavian theatre director.

Europe Theatre Prize

In 2011, he was one of the recipients of the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities, in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, with the following motivation:

He is a playwright and stage director. Smeds is at home portraying the inner worlds of his characters as in highlighting the remotest corners of society. Smeds’ plays are wild, energetic, and filled with many distinctive voices and can be interpreted in many different ways, and can take full advantage of a wide variety of theatrical techniques. His language is rich and colourful, but at the same time natural. In Smeds’ world, the personal and the political are indistinguishable, and his work is characterized by a deep concern for human beings.

References

External links

*
Smeds Ensemble – theatre group of Kristian Smeds

Mental Finland – production homepage

Cherry Orchard – production homepage
Finnish dramatists and playwrights 1970 births Living people People from Tornio Finnish expatriates in Belgium Finnish expatriates in Estonia Finnish expatriates in Lithuania {{Finland-writer-stub