Playwright-director Jari Juutinen (born 1959) is absolutely one of the most internationally active Finnish theatre artists. Juutinen is said not to shy away from difficult topics and his plays often deal with themes such as justice, social issues and force of love. His probably best known play ”I Am Adolf Eichmann“ – success in Avignon 2008 – brings forward the individual behind the war criminal to point out the banality of evil. The play “Juliet, Juliet!“ was invited and performed among others at XIV Festival Internacional de Teatro de la Habana in Cuba 2011. In the 1990s, he founded the Finnish ensemble theatre Teatteri Vanha Juko where he staged his works amongst other important Finnish contemporary plays. In 2007-2015, he was the artistic director of Lappeenranta City Theatre raising exceptional international interest. Besides in Finland, Juutinen has directed in Russia, Luxembourg, Georgia, Slovenia and Italy. His works have toured internationally in Georgia, Russia, USA, Cuba, Estonia, Lithuania, Belarus, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Slovenia, Armenia and Great Britain. In the year 2013 Juutinen directed the Finnish premiere of Kristian Smeds’ play “Sad Songs from the Heart of Europe“ that has toured all around Europe ever since. Juutinen is the founder of internationally operating Helsinki-based theatre company sadsongskomplex:fi (Est. 2015). For the years 2016–2020, Juutinen has received the appreciated 5-Year State Artist Grant.