A Little Money

The play’s protagonist Jason is a man in his fifties, and someone we could in medical terms call “academically handicapped”. His inner life is still, balanced, happy, slow and child-like. Jason has a very caring mother, without whom he would probably not manage in his daily life. The mother is similarly dependent on Jason’s help, as she has a bad leg and they live in a secluded wood-heated cottage. In the neighbour lives Ilse, a widowed woman who has her own problems and is limited in the neighbourly help that she can provide or receive. The life of these three people is relatively stable, somewhat happy, and they are content with the little that they have. The major recurring event in Jason’s life is his weekly bus trip to a nearby town. This trip has a selection of always repeating rituals which bring Jason a sense of security and the basic satisfaction of his life’s fulfilment. But on one Tuesday everything changes when Jason meets new people in town. The events of the play are set in a time and place which is not quite today’s everyday reality. The play spans across about two and a half days, from Tuesday morning until Thursday night. The epilogue takes us half a year forward into a bright spring day. When everything is already different. (Source: Tampereen Työväen teatteri 2009)