Updated: Finlandia community play by Yeats to be Nov. 16, 17, 18

HANCOCK -- The fall Finlandia University community play, At the Hawk’s Well, will be presented at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16, and Saturday, Nov. 17, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 18, at the Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock.

The play is directed by Melvin Kangas and features players, singers and musicians from Finlandia and the Copper Country community.

At the Hawk’s Well, by Irish poet W. B. Yeats, is an experimental play based on a fragment of ancient Irish mythology and patterned after Japanese "Noh" drama. The minimalist play features one main and one companion character, the use of masks and faces painted to resemble masks, chant-like singing and minimalist scenery.

Set during the early medieval period, the story concerns a young keeper (Randy Wakeham) and an old keeper (Oren Tikkanen) of a well from which springs the water of eternal life. The keepers are tricked by the Guardian of the Well (Paula Oye) into missing the water when it finally flows. Instead of continuing to wait, the young one goes to do battle, while the old one stays by the well.

"Finlandia University's Melvin Kangas not only directs the production, but has also composed wonderfully evocative music for it, drawing upon Japanese and Celtic musical sources," Tikkanen notes. "Kangas plays the score on kantele (Finnish table harp) and keyboard, with a very talented ensemble that includes Robin Oye on flute and vocalists Phyllis Fredendall and Megan Plis."

Other members of the cast include Rebecca Stadius, Maija Stadius, Ren Olson, Marie Kangas, Jessica Kilpela, Terry Sayatovich and Erica Hilts.

Here are some comments from viewers of the dress rehearsal:

"This is an effectively mysterious metaphor about the human condition."

"The slow pace draws one in as the dramatic tension gets higher -- and the music and singing are lovely."

Tickets are $5.00 per person and are available at the door. Finlandia students are free with university ID.