Theatre and Transgression Dirty Hands at the Finnish National Theatre in 1948 and the Aftermath

I will discuss transgression and debated boundaries in performing arts in this article. I will be looking at a production of Jean-Paul Sartre's Dirty Hands at the Finnish National Theatre in 1948 and discussing the political norms of transgression in theatre at an unstable moment in Finnish history. The production premiered on 8 October 1948 and was performed for two months only. On 5 December 1948, Finland received a note from the Soviet Union, the reason was hostile action towards the Soviet Union. After the note, Dirty Hands was performed no more. In Chris Jenks's definition, transgression is "to go beyond the bounds or limits set by a commandment, the law or the convention." It is a "conduct which breaks rules or exceeds boundaries."(Jenks 2003, 2.)Transgression can be dangerous and challenge dominant hierarchies and authorities. What kind of a transgression took place in Dirty Hands? What strategies did the theatre and the artists participating in the production use to negotiate the transgression? Reading this performance through transgression, I argue that the theatre had a vital function in creating an understanding of the nation's role in Finland after WWII.