In English

Närpes Theatre grew out of the dynamic amateur movement in the local youth associations. Already in the 1930s the revue tradition started in Mellersta Närpes Uf, a local youth association that has since trained many promising amateur actors.

In 1963 a group of enthusiastic amateur actors gathered to discuss the establishment of a local amateur theatre association, and Närpes Theatre was founded January 16th 1964.

In 2004 Närpes Theatre celebrated its 40th anniversary and was able to reflect on an activity filled with devotion, enthusiasm, artistic success and, last but not least, an unmatched social network. Närpes Theatre has seen numerous plays, actors, directors, set designers and most importantly, audiences.

Närpes Theatre is famous for two things: its revolving platform and its use of the local dialect.

The revolving platform was the second one to exist in Finland. Built in the summer of 1966 it was barely finished before the premiere of Högt bland Saarijärvis moar (the first part of Väinö Linna's North Star trilogy). In fact, there wasn't even time to test it with an audience during rehearsals, a circumstance that surely added to opening night jitters.

Närpes, as well as the area surrounding it, is known for its unique Swedish dialect. At the risk of exaggerating one can say that the early plays performed at Närpes Theatre were the first actual attempts to use dialect in an artistic way in Finnish-Swedish theatre. The use of dialect was, of course, nothing new within amateur theatre, but it was often done to emphasize the comic side of the dialect. Närpes Theatre has always revered the local dialect and allowed it to express the whole spectrum of the human condition, such as seriousness, happiness, pain and sorrow.

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