Every year, many charming Moomin theatre plays are staged around the world — here are the places where you can see Moomin on the theatre stage right now, and a list of some previous Moomin plays!
Some Moomin plays are presented more in-depth in their own articles on Moomin.com, here is a short summary per country. The main image of this article is from the play Moominsummer Madness by Nissay Theatre and Hitomiza Puppet Theatre.
Current and upcoming Moomin and Tove Jansson theatre plays
Finland
The Invisible Child, Teatteri Hevosenkenkä, Espoo
The Invisible Child puppet show by Teatteri Hevosenkengä in Espoo, Finland, is based on Tove Jansson’s wise story of Ninny, a girl who becomes visible again through Little My’s resourcefulness and the love of the Moomin family.
Ninny has long been treated badly and has slowly become invisible. One rainy autumn evening, she is brought to the Moomin family. The warmth and love of the family make Ninny visible again and she finally finds her place. But becoming visible requires a special skill, one that Little My can teach. What is it?
The premiere of The Invisible Child puppet theatre production by Theatre Hevosenkenkä, directed and written by Anne Rautiainen, is on 19.9.2024. The puppet show is suitable for children aged 3 and up and lasts 45 minutes. The performance can also be booked for children’s events, cultural centres, theatres, schools and kindergartens all over Finland and the world.
Show dates: 19.09.-18.11.2024
More information and tickets
The UK
Christmas Comes to Moominvalley, Jacksons Lane, London
Celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Moomin stories, Jacksons Lane in Haringey, London, presents a new adaptation of Tove Jansson’s classic short story The Fir Tree. The new show, Christmas Comes to Moominvalley, is the first Moomin show created using contemporary circus, from acrobatics and hypnotic juggling alongside magical music. The show also celebrates the 50th birthday of Jacksons Lane.
The show is brought to life by Kaveh Rahnama. A must-see show for the whole family, Moomin and circus enthusiasts alike!
Show dates: 6.12.2024 – 5.1.2025
More information and tickets
‘Mamma, wake up,’ Moomintroll said anxiously. ‘Something’s on. They call it Christmas.’
The Fir Tree (Tales from Moominvalley, 1962)
Previous Moomin and Tove Jansson theatre plays around the world
Japan
Moominsummer Madness, Nissay Theatre, Tokyo
Nissay Theatre in Tokyo presents a much-loved puppet adaptation of Tove Jansson’s novel Moominsummer Madness. Nissay Theatre produced this show for the first time in 2017, and it is now back at the theatre for the third time thanks to high public demand.
The play depicts the mysterious events in Moominvalley during the magical days and nights around the summer solstice. When the Moomin family needs to move out of Moominhouse due to a sudden flood, a mysterious building washes up in their place, and the Moomins decide to move in. The bright red shell-like building is actually a theatre, a concept completely unknown to the Moomin family.
The show is a co-production between Nissay Theatre and Hitomiza Puppet Theatre.Founded in 1948, Hitomiza focuses on preserving traditional puppetry, creating groundbreaking puppet showsinspired by Bunraku, a traditional form of Japanese puppet theatre as well as picture books, children’s literature, and manga.
The puppets in this Moomin production are about the same height as a child, with a puppeteer standing behind the puppet and controlling it, just like in Bunraku.
Show dates: 3-4.8.2024
More information and tickets
Poland
Lato Muminków (Moominsummer Madness), Teatr im. Ludwika Solskiego, Tarnów
“A theatre is the most important sort of house in the world, because that’s where people are shown what they could be if they wanted, and what they’d like to be if they dared to and what they really are”, says Emma the Stage Rat, as she is trying to describe the magic of the thatre to the Moomin family, who have never heard of the concept.
Moominsummer Madness is a story with many references to William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Midsummer night becomes the background to a story about longing, attachment, care and sleep. This is a time of magic and miracles casting a wonderful spell over Moominvalley.
Show dates: 21.6.2022-24.7.2024
More information and tickets
Granen, Marionetteatern at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Stockholm
In Marionetteatern’s interpretation of Tove Jansson’s short story The Fir Tree (Granen), the audience meets the Moomintroll and his friends who accidentally wake up from hibernation and learn about a mysterious phenomenon called “Christmas”.
The acclaimed show premiered in 2021 and is now being staged again for the 2022 Christmas season.
“Mamma, wake up,” Moomintroll said anxiously. “Something’s on. They call it Christmas.”
Moomintroll is awakened from his long winter sleep to a bustling Moominvalley. Something called Christmas is apparently coming already the same evening! And the mysterious Christmas does not seem pleasant at all.
With puppets, shadow plays and newly written live music, we get to follow the Moomins’ first tentative steps in the snow. What exactly is Christmas? And why is everyone running around like crazy? Marionetteatern’s interpretation of Tove Jansson’s The Fir Tree is a visually strong representation of what’s truly important.
Granen is a family show from 4 years.
Show period: 25.11-22.12.2022
Tickets and further information here
Sommarboken (The Summer Book), Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, Stockholm
Strictly speaking, the Summer Book is not a Moomin play, but since it is based on a book written by Tove Jansson, it may still interest Moomin fans.
The Summer Book is one of the greatest Finnish summer classics. It consists of several small stories depicting the growing friendship between a very old and a very young person. The little girl Sophia, who is beginning her walk of life, has just experienced death through the passing of her mother. At the same time, the elderly grandmother is at the end of her life, sensing the present of death. Sophia and her grandmother look at life in different ways. One of them must be able to live and the other must be able to die.
Marika Lagercrantz and Matilda Ragnerstam take on the roles of little Sophia and her grandmother who get to know each other during a summer together on an archipelago island.
The story has biographical elements from Tove Jansson’s own life and was published in 1972. In connection with the book’s 50th anniversary, it is now staged at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern.
Director Jakob Höglund is the artistic director of Lilla Teatern in Helsinki and in recent years has staged hits such as Once, Så som i himmelen and Kris och katastrof i Mumindalen. In 2018, he put up a critically acclaimed Summer Book adaptation at Lilla Teatern in Helsinki.
Show period: 4.3-10.4.2023
Da julen kom til Mumidalen
A beautiful and atmospheric Christmas show for everyone aged 5 and up – based on an adaptation of Tove Jansson’s short story The Fir Tree. After each performance, there is an opportunity to ask the actors questions and check out the puppets.
When the Moomin family is awakened from their sweet winter sleep by Hemulen amid much commotion, they wake up to a world unlike anything they’ve seen before. Moominvalley is covered in a sparkling white, thick and icy layer of snow – a natural phenomenon completely unknown to the Moomins. The Moomins’ friends in the valley don’t have time to explain what’s going on. They are busy getting ready for Christmas. What Christmas is is a mystery to the Moomins. But everyone’s preoccupation with getting ready before it arrives seems worrisome. The Moomin family tries very hard to be like the others so as not to incur the wrath of Christmas or worse…
Show dates: 26.11-23.12.2022
Tickets and additional information
Kris och katastrof i Mumindalen, Lilla teatern, Helsingfors
Moominvalley and its cast of characters have been portrayed on stage several times before, but never in this way. Tove Jansson’s Moomin comic comes to life on stage for the first time at Lilla Teatern in the play Kris och katastrof i Mumindalen (Crisis and Disaster in Moominvalley).
The play, which has received rave reviews, is the first theatrical production based on Tove Jansson’s Moomin comic strips. Directed by Lilla Teatern’s artistic director Jakob Höglund with a script by Annina Enckell.
Below you can see a mini-documentary about the creation of the play.
Show dates: 1.10.2022-31.5.2023
Tickets and more information
W dolinie Muminków (Finn Family Moomintroll), Teatr Dzieci Zaglebia
The performance reminds the audience of all the adventures the inhabitants of this special valley have. It would probably be a perfectly normal day of play outside Moominhouse, if it weren’t for a certain mysterious hat that fell from the sky… or out of nowhere.
The everyday problems of the Moomins are very close to children and their parents. The simply constructed world, presented with the use of many classic puppet theatre techniques, is easy to realte to for the youngest children. The show includes numerous songs and a colourful stage design.
Show dates: 2010-1.10.2023
Tickets and more information
Moomin and Tove Jansson exhibitions worldwide
Why not head to a Moomin exhibition on a rainy day – here are the most interesting Moomin and Tove Jansson exhibitions around!
The Moomin comics as theatre – behind the scenes at the first play based on the comics
Follow the rehearsals and see some of the 100 puppets used in first theatre play based on the Moomin comics in our mini-documentary!
Archive treasures: The original set design sketch for the “Comet in Moominland” play by Tove Jansson
Did you know Tove Jansson created beautiful Comet in Moominland set design sketches for the first Moomin theater play? Take a look at them!