Väike raha (Pieni raha)

The play’s protagonist Jason is a man in his fifties, and someone we could in medical terms call ‘educationally 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. Yet, the mother is similarly dependent on Jason’s help with her bad leg and their secluded cottage which is wood heated. In the neighbour lives the widow Ilse, a woman in her own difficult situation who is limited in the neighbourly help that she can provide or receive. The life of these three people is relatively stable, somewhat happy, and content with the little that they have. The great event in Jason’s life is his weekly bus trip to a nearby town. This trip has several always repeating rituals which bring Jason a sense of security and the basic satisfaction of his life’s fulfilment. The events 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, however, takes us half a year forward into a bright spring day. When everything is already different. Because, on one Tuesday everything changes when Jason meets new people in town. (Source: Tampereen Työväen teatteri 2009)