The Phantom of Everyday Life / The Ghost of Ordinariness

A humorous and absurd series of scenes about trying to be normal.

A living room takes center stage. Doors and windows can be thrown open at any moment to let in so-called ordinary people—with their peculiar habits, mannerisms, and behaviors. Scenes of everyday life and celebration follow one another, and everyone seems to be striving for the same thing: to be normal.

It's so-so.

They give speeches, serve a sandwich cake, make small talk about the weather, and desperately try to act the way people usually do. But everything keeps slipping a few centimeters off course. Someone claps at the wrong moment. Someone starts crying during the coffee break without really interrupting the conversation. A window opens onto the night, and no one remembers who did it. It’s very Finnish. In that way where silence suddenly becomes the main character in the room.

*The Phantom of Everyday Life* is inspired by Luis Buñuel’s film *The Phantom of Liberty*, but here the focus is not on freedom, but on the everyday. What happens to us when we constantly see ourselves reflected in the eyes of others? When normality becomes a project?

With her distinctive style, acclaimed Finnish playwright and director Saara Turunen creates a melodic theatrical collage where absurdity and melancholy go hand in hand. It is a visually striking production filled with humor, a touch of sadness, and a warm perspective on life’s oddities and fleeting beauty.

The performance is in Finnish and features subtitles in Finnish and Swedish.

The Swedish National Theatre in collaboration with & (Espoo Theatre), Finland.