Talking Head
Performance
Duration: 50 min
Language: Thu 14 May Finnish / Fri 15 May English
Suitability: 12+
Group: Janne Saarakkala
Country: Finland
Performers: Janne Saarakkala
Team: Paula Koivunen (costume design)
Description: Talking Head is Janne Saarakkala's stream-of-consciousness performance, where he verbalizes every movement of his mind without planning ahead—what he sees, experiences, feels, and remembers in the moment. First, Saarakkala speaks with his eyes closed, then with eyes open facing the audience. Additionally, he performs a roughly 5-minute task that he doesn't know about in advance. Otherwise, there is no plan—just the present and what Saarakkala is thinking right now.
Stylistically, Talking Head combines improvisation, stand-up, and performance art. The core experience of this piece, which explores the nature of thought and its effects, is the living presence of the mind. Alongside Saarakkala's stream of thought, the viewer hears their own inner narrator, and the boundary between performer and audience may dissolve… The performance reveals how finely people are connected to one another.
Hailed as a classic of Finnish performance art, this solo work premiered at the Reality Research Center in 2001. Most recent performances: Soiva Metsä festival, Suomussalmi, 2025; Lainsuojattomat festival, Pori, 2019; Oops festival, Roskilde, Denmark, 2017.
Janne Saarakkala (1972) is a director, writer, and performer with extensive experience in both traditional and innovative forms of performance-making. His specialties include documentary theatre and immersive works. Saarakkala is a founding member of the Reality Research Center and the author of two published novels.