生死中年 (Tarpeettomia ihmisiä)

Tarpeettomia ihmisiä (Unnecessary People) is a necessary story about unnecessary people, as well as a strong statement for small individuals. Kari is a machine mechanic whose last job was to mount a new automated production line for the steel mill that he works for – a process which eventually makes him obsolete. Kari is made redundant regardless of his long working experience, professional skills and expertise. The play portrays those five hundred days during which Kari transforms from a working man to a member of the long-term unemployed. His self-esteem crashes down and physical strength remains his only means to manifest his existence. Kari becomes the mask of a cornered, desperate beast. The play illustrates one of our deepest contemporary tragedies, and Lundán constructs the story unpretentiously. The events proceed with an Aristotelian inevitability towards their tragic, violent end. Lundán’s text is harrowingly real and touching, but in spite of the bleak subject, he also finds humour in the everyday that is impossible not to laugh at. (Tinfo/Sunklo)