Ovlá

An Opera About Seeking Roots and State-Led Oppression of the Sámi People       

Davvisámegiella · Anárašgiella · Nuortalašgiella

Ovlá is an opera about the disappearance of truth and about profound loneliness. It tells the story of having one’s roots and cultural heritage torn apart. When a child is separated from their parents and forced into a boarding school, they encounter an unfamiliar language and culture. This experience leads to the trauma of abandonment and isolation. What was once familiar becomes foreign, and the child grows up ashamed of their identity. This sense of alienation forms an identity that offers no peace. 

Our protagonist, a victim of assimilation policies, has lost something crucial that he has buried and tried to forget: Who he is. Love awakens a desire to return to his roots and helps Ovlá realize that one cannot simply decide to become someone else. Can Ovlá stop forgetting and choose to start remembering? 

Ovlá is written by Sámi playwright Juho-Sire/Siri Broch Johansen, composed by Finnish composer Cecilia Damström with consultation from Sámi composer Ánndaris / Anders Rimpi and directed by Oulu Theatre’s director Heta Haanperä. The opera’s orchestra is Oulu Sinfonia, conducted by Oulu Sinfonia’s chief conductor Rumon Gamba. 

The music evokes grand and flowing sonic landscapes deeply rooted in Sámi nature. However, beneath the beauty lies a stark narrative of struggle: colonial powers like Finland, have stripped the Indigenous Sámi peoples of their harmonious coexistence with nature, seeking to replace it with industrialisation and institutionalisation. This is reflected in the music, where the natural flow is juxtaposed with rhythm, order, and rigidity. Amid this orchestral dialogue, the authentic voices of Sámi joikers emerge, embodying the resilience of individuals reclaiming an identity stolen from them in childhood.  

The composer, Cecilia Damström, will write the music in close collaboration with Sámi musicians, who will compose all the joiks we hear in the opera. Their joiks will be an integral part of the musical composition to honor their heritage and integrate their voices into a shared musical expression. 

The production brings to the Main stage of Oulu City Theatre the perspective of the Sámi, the only indigenous people of the Nordic countries, and the painful consequences of state-led oppression that continue to affect new generations of Sámi. 

At the heart of the opera is the sharing of knowledge and taking responsibility for state-led injustices, as well as highlighting the experiences of the Sámi people. While the work critically examines societal structures and discrimination, it also gently focuses on the individual. Ovlá is a fictional story, but everything that happens in it has happened to someone on both the Finnish, the Swedish, the Norwegian and the Russian side of Sápmi at some point. 

The production features Sámi artists as guest designers: Geir Tore Holm as set designer, Helmi Hagelin as costume designer, and Øystein Heitmann as lighting designer. The sound design is by Jari Niemi from Oulu Theatre. Emil Kárlsen will be taking on the lead role. 

Performance languages are Northern Sámi and Finnish. There will be Finnish, Northern Sámi and English subtitles. The opera is produced in collaboration with Oulu Sinfonia, the Sámi National Theatre Beaivváš, and Oulu2026. 

Oulu is the European Capital of Culture for the year 2026. Ovlá is part of the Oulu2026 cultural programme and cultural climate change. 

Shows and tickets    

Playwright      

Juho-Sire/Siri Broch Johansen (born 1967) is a Sámi playwright, writer, songwriter and activist. She graduated with a Master’s Degree in Theatre Art and works mainly as a playwright. Johansen has twice won the Saami Council’s Prize for Literature with her novels for young people. She wrote an essay anthology entitled Kirjeitä komissiolle (Letters to the commission) (2020), in which she focused on issues that raised conflicts in the Norwegian Truth and Reconciliation Commission. 

Composer      

Composer Cecilia Damström (b. 1988) has quickly risen to one of Finland’s most sought-after composers, with most Finnish symphony orchestras and festivals having performed her music. She has the ability and desire to address social issues through her compositions, as well as a strong sense of dramaturgy. In 2018, she won the Award for Children’s Opera of the Year with her opera Dumma Kungen and composed the first Swedish-language school opera Djurens planet for the Finnish National Opera in the same year. Damström studied composition at Tampere University of Applied Sciences and the Malmö Academy of Music. In 2022, Damström was awarded the Teosto Prize for her orchestral work ICE, and her orchestral piece Extinctions was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2024. 

Cast

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