Iron Love

”No matter who you love, the important thing is to love” (Juhani Aho in ’Iron Love’) Iron Love is based on the real-life love triangle between the Finnish painter Venny Soldan-Brofeldt, her husband Juhani Aho, and this famous writer’s lover Tilly Soldan who was also Venny’s sister. The play, which does not aim at historical accuracy, takes this biographical setting and elevates it into a universal story of love: love of men and women, love of art, love of ideals, love of children, love of life. At its heart, it is a story of a woman who more than anything aspires to be an artist, of a man who wishes to possess a good wife and a sensitive lover, and of a woman who not only wants to be loved by this married man, but also wants to bear his child. At the same time, Tola’s play is also a meditation on the battle that women with an artistic calling faced in the late 19th century. Venny Soldan-Brofeldt was the first Finnish female artist who successfully combined an artist’s career with a functional family life. (Tinfo/Sunklo)