Teatteri Sujo’s 2026 residency production is Somnium Malum, created by Elements Ensemble.
It’s time for bed, and I’m a little nervous. I switch off the lights and leap onto the bed in one big jump. I don’t dare fall asleep. My eyes wander watchfully around the dark room. The lampshade starts turning into the Grim Reaper, and the grandfather clock begins to look like the gnome from a childhood nightmare. What if someone’s under the bed? At last I fall asleep. I wake in the middle of the night with a chilling feeling: someone or something is standing in the doorway. I stare at the dark figure, which seems to be searching for its final form. It squirms its way across the room, closer and closer, and I can’t move. What does the figure want?
Mara, Deattán, Märr, Divs, Painaja, Painajainen… a dear child has many names, dear and ‘dear’… In many different folk traditions, the figures listed above are creatures that disturb our sleep. A malevolent being, often able to change its form whatever the tradition, sits on the sleeper’s chest and brings on bad dreams. After the night is over, the nightmare creature may turn back into an ordinary person, completely unaware of what happened in the dark. Can the sleeper still tell the difference between dream, nightmare, waking and their own self? In folk traditions, people try to drive the creature away with rituals, magic tricks, spells, or a mixture of all three. But could it be that a gentle encounter might calm the nightmare?
Katarina Suviniitty and Mimmi Herd
Performances at Teatteri Sujo’s Lantala stage (the old manure-cellar stage), Pyssymäentie 73, Pörsänmäki
The piece was created during a residency at Teatteri Sujo from 20 July to 2 August 2026.
The piece has been supported by Teatteri Sujo and the City of Iisalmi Cultural Services. The residency has been supported by the Ylä-Savo Foundation.
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