Adapted and directed by
Hanna Ojala

​​

Vaasa City Theatre 2018

​

When the successful entrepreneur Rautala is involved in a car accident and seriously injured, his life is turned upside down. He ends up in hospital, on the operating table, and in weeks of rehabilitation, completely immobile and dependent on the care of others. He must relearn how to live, starting from the very first sip of water.

A vast care machinery surrounds him. Used to understanding the world through money, Rautala soon begins to wonder: what does all of this cost — intensive care, rehabilitation, maintenance? And who is paying for it? His conscience starts to stir… Has he done his fair share for the welfare state? Rautala realizes that the hospital is present at surprisingly many “key strategic touchpoints"of life: in a nearby ward lie his aging parents, and downstairs his pregnant daughter. And evidently, the hospital also treats those who have not contributed their share to the common good! Should it?
The gears of public healthcare creak as the state cuts budgets and sets priorities.

Nurse Laura works tirelessly, adapting to cuts and reforms, enduring patients’ whims — but for how long? Nature’s law takes a stand —sternly, humorously, and with precision.
 

Nature’s Law explores one of the great taboos of our time: human dependence on others and the need for care. The fact that we are born into the world at the mercy of others’ kindness, and wish to die with a hand in ours. In today’s world, everything has a price tag — but can care be priced? And can some be more entitled to it than others?
 

Serious themes are interwoven with exuberant comedy and drug-induced hallucinations, and the wild scenes are at once both moving and laugh-out-loud funny.

​

Script Hanna Ojala based on Kari Hotakainen's novel and Sami Keski-Vähälä's dramatization
Set and Costume Design Silja Kauppinen
Composition and Sound Design Michael Böger
Light Design Teemu Vähänen
Cast Jorma Tommila, Anna Lemmetti-Vieri, Reetta Kankare, Abdirahman Bile, Ville Härkönen sekä Heidi Kurvinen ja Nuutti Saari.
Photos