Kaisa Korhonen

Kaisa Korhonen (20 July 1941 – 25 April 2024) was a Finnish theatre director, actor, singer and dramaturge.

She was a central figure in the Finnish leftist music scene of the 1960s and 1970s, appearing both as a solo artist, and with KOM-teatteri.

[1][2][3] Korhonen studied scenography at the Taideteollinen oppilaitos (now Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture) between 1961 and 1965.

[4] Societal reactions to her singing were thus split, as conservatives objected both to the songs' messages, and her passionate delivery.

In her work as director, she was inspired by Bertolt Brecht, whose plays she had seen when she visited East Berlin in 1962.

[4] Korhonen briefly directed the Swedish Theatre's KOM-scenen, before co-founding the independent KOM-teatteri, acting as both director and actor.

[2][4] In 1972, Korhonen moved on to become a teacher of directing at the Suomen Teatterikoulu (now the Helsinki Theatre Academy).