SotaturistitWar Tourists
As the Crimean War gets under way and British fleets are preparing to attack in the Baltic, a Swedish civilian vessel, the S/S Linköping, also approaches the Finnish coast, bearing passengers who have paid good money to watch the fighting up close. Nisse, the owner of an undergarment factory, is convinced that war provides a glimpse into human nature at its purest, while Mr. Svensson collects war memorabilia to sell. Svensson’s daughter Inge is bored to tears, until she meets the British soldier Jon. Allen, a war correspondent, tries desperately to provide readers with a true picture of the war, while Admiral Charlie wishes to retire but is not allowed to do so--despite having lost both an arm and a leg.
Laura Ruohonen’s play premiered to critical acclaim, and was named the best Finnish new play of 2008. In the words of the jury, ”War Tourists leaps into a new kind of historical, contemporary and imaginative world, appealing both to sense and sensibility.”
Ruohonen’s black comedy demonstrates how war corrupts even those who do not participate in it. Everyone in turn abuses or is abused by others, sometimes at the same time. The play explores what it is that makes death and destruction so compelling that we can never get enough of it, and indeed long to witness it again and again.
The play has been translated into French, Swedish and Estonian.
