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HISTORY OF THE RAGING ROSES THEATRE
The Raging Roses Theatre was born in 1988 at the Katajanokka Workshop, which became the stage for an all female Shakespearean production entitled The Raging Roses - a Chronicle of Power. This began the process which more than ten years later led to the founding of the Kassandra Association.
The Raging Roses Theatre put on productions up to 1998, both in the Katajanokka Workshop and in cooperation with other Helsinki theatres. These performances showed that women actors could achieve much more than their traditional theatrical roles usually allowed them. During 1998-2001 the Roses produced a series of smaller events on their own Fredrikintori stage in Helsinki.
In 1994 the Roses organized in Helsinki an international drama festival called The Bible 1994, on the theme of the Bibleís image of women. The performances spread out from the Katajanokka Workshop and the Customs House to the Cathedral Crypt and the Railway Warehouses. Groups from Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden were involved.
In 1998 the Raging Roses Theatre set up a multicultural artistic and research project called Kassandra 2000. The project built on close cooperation between artists and researchers from different universities. The aim was to examine, via both art and research, the multicultural reality of contemporary Finland, especially from a womanís point of view. The project culminated in a grand cavalcade for the year 2000, when Helsinki was a European Capital of Culture. The cavalcade was realized as a series of public events and associated publications.
The projectís theatrical production Rainbow attracted particular interest, and also some racist reactions. At the Katajanokka Workshop in Helsinki, women from ten different backgrounds performed a story about present-day Helsinki, accompanied by music composed by Sanna Kurki-Suonio.
The Raging Roses Theatre was founded by Ritva Siikala who also directed all the major performances of the Roses. Hundreds of women and several men from many countries have taken part in the activities of The Raging Roses.
The Raging Roses Theatre wanted to continue its activities and create Finlandís first professional multicultural theatre, but despite all our efforts financing could not be arranged.
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