OMATUNT0 (CONSCIENCE)

Conscience – Stories About Alcohol and Its Impacts (Part of the “Emotions” performance series, Reality Research Center 2009)
Direction and Dramaturgy: Jonna Wikström
Music: Joonas Pirttilä
Set Design: Antti Nikkinen
Performers: Pauliina Pajunen, Jerker Polso, Karo Lauronen, and Jonna Wikström

“Conscience” was a provocative performance about alcohol, its impact on individual destinies, and its role in society. The play explored the individual’s perspective while also considering alcohol culture within Finnish society. Using performance art, it aimed to make the familiar seem unfamiliar. The goal was to create an illusion through which society, oneself, and the individual are examined from an external viewpoint. What does Finnish drinking culture look like when it is removed from its usual context? The aim was to make the contradictory nature of alcohol culture visible. This contradiction is evident, for example, in people’s views on appropriate celebratory behavior versus alcoholism. We addressed the emphasis on individuality and its connections to societal malaise, which manifests in behaviors such as excessive alcohol consumption. How do the values of mainstream culture reflect in an individual’s “conscience” and life story? The team collected material and held regular meetings where they reflected on their personal relationship with alcohol and alcohol use by keeping diaries, reading related scientific and literary works, and discussing within the group.