Kiviä taskussa closes Helsinki run after record-breaking success

Helsinki City Theatre will stage its final performance of Kiviä taskussa, or Stones in His Pockets, on 10 November, ending a run that has drawn nearly 384,000 people. Yle asked readers to share their memories of the long-running play, which stars Martti Suosalo and Mika Nuojua.

The actors have performed the play since 2002. Its upcoming 1,033rd performance will add to Finnish theatre records for the number of performances and the length of time a full-length play has remained continuously in the repertoire.

The production will continue after its Helsinki run. Suosalo’s company has bought the rights to the play from Sweden for two years. From January, Suosalo and Nuojua plan to give eight performances at Aleksanteri Theatre, then tour elsewhere in Finland.

Yle received 50 responses from readers. Many recalled the play’s humour and praised the actors’ performances and their rapid changes between roles.

Juha Räsänen, 49, has seen the play several times in Lappeenranta, Tampere and Helsinki. He said his first visit, in Lappeenranta more than 15 years ago, was unforgettable.

“At some point I noticed that the whole audience was having a fit of laughter that seemed never-ending. I laughed so much myself that my stomach started to hurt,” he said.

Riitta Arvilommi, 76, took a lively class of pupils to see the production. She said the children, seated in the middle of the front row, laughed so hard at the funny moments that they were doubled over, holding their stomachs.

Jaana Kilpeläinen, 66, has seen the play about 20 times. She said every performance brought a new surprise, and praised both its humour and its sadder moments. She plans to attend the final show with her niece and her niece’s boyfriend.

Eija Haapakoski travelled 1,000 kilometres to Helsinki to see the play, which she described as the best theatre performance she had seen. She was impressed by how the actors changed roles with small gestures and movements.

Valo Vesikauris, 31, saw the play in spring 2025 and was struck by the actors’ energy after hundreds of performances. He also enjoyed seeing them struggle to keep straight faces during their own antics.

Written by Irish playwright Marie Jones, the play follows the filming of a movie in rural Ireland. Suosalo and Nuojua play local extras Charlie Conlon and Jake Quinn, as well as around 15 other characters, switching between roles during the performance. The Finnish-language premiere was on 24 October 2002.