Cafe Hahnemann Homeopathic play
by Nina Bergorth & Reeta Pohjonen
“Platina, noble metal, the queen. No one can truly understand what it’s like to be something truly special.
It’s lonely up high.
Lonely, loneliness - I don’t belong in this world, I don’t belong to my family.
This is what it’s like to be unique and precious.
But from up here, no one can break me.
A delusion that something has happened to my husband.
The king never returns.”
Platina the Queen - Daniela Salomaa, ATH graduate and teacher
As their final thesis project, Jonna and Marja, students of the Transformational School of Homeopathy, created an in-depth exploration of Materia Medica remedies in the form of a theatrical play with illustrations.
The play was set in a café environment, with the café owner and play director portrayed as Mrs. Materia Medica. The café’s “customers” were played by the school’s teachers, students, and homeopaths.
On stage, sixteen remedy portraits from the Materia Medica were brought to life. Among them were two of the school’s newly proven bird remedies: Siberian Jay (Perisoreus infaustus) and Capercaillie (Tetrao urogallus).
The café walls were decorated with Marja’s watercolor paintings, each one representing a different remedy featured in the performance.
Cafe Hahnemann and the character paintings and cards.
The play's storyline unfolded as café customers arrived one by one. The dialogue was rich with sharp humor and vivid characterizations of various homeopathic remedies. Each character entered the stage theatrically, accompanied by music that matched their remedy personality.
Thuja walked in to Katri Helena’s “Katson sineen taivaan” (I Look in to the Blue Sky),
Agaricus to The Doors’ “People Are Strange”,
and Platina made her entrance to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen”.
Midway through the play, Marilyn Monroe — a.k.a. Adamas (Diamond) surprised the audience by singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”.
Each character ordered drinks and snacks that matched the cravings or tendencies of their remedy profile. After their scene, they sat down in the café and read a poem that reflected their remedy’s inner state.
“Sparkling, beautiful, special.
No one would ever guess that deep inside I feel worthless, alone.
Who would suspect that someone so perfect…
could feel utterly without value.
Adamas — the Diamond."
Marilyn Monroe, Adamas, the Diamond - Marika Rita, ATH graduate and teacher.
The audience arrived an hour before the performance and were welcomed into a true café experience combined with an art exhibition. A pop-up café had been magically created for the occasion, offering small culinary delights. The atmosphere at Ylioppilasteatteri was très chic. Every detail had been carefully thought out and styled to perfection. All staff members wore Cafe Hahnemann T-shirts, and Mrs. Materia Medica was dressed in a SantaMalandra kimono.
The purpose of the final project was to promote positive awareness of homeopathy through art and theatre. A written version of the project, an in-depth study of Materia Medica, will be released during the spring.
Cafe Hahnemann art cards are available for purchase at the school.
Inquiries: nina@homeopatiakoulutus.fi
"The power of the feline.
Men look at me, women don’t like me.
I feel myself like something in between chocolate and rose...
Panthera Pardus Sanguis — Black Panther, Leopard.”
From the program booklet:
From the Program Booklet:
“Cafe Hahnemann” traces its roots back to the founder of homeopathy, German physician and chemist Samuel Hahnemann, all the way to the late 1700s. Disappointed by the clinical results of conventional medicine, Hahnemann set out to find a gentler, more effective way for the body to heal - one that would use minimal doses and bring about fast and lasting recovery.
His groundbreaking insight that many illnesses can be cured by administering tiny amounts of substances that, in large doses, would cause similar symptoms, led him to develop what became a lifelong dedication to homeopathy. As a result, to this day, over 200 million people worldwide benefit from this treatment method, which deeply respects the individuality of each person.
Cafe Hahnemann is a creative short-form intervention into the world of homeopathy and its selected remedies. The play is part of the final thesis project of two students from the Transformational School of Homeopathy. Through theatrical performance and paintings, the play dives deep into the core of selected remedies, presenting caricatured archetypes of remedies in slices of everyday life.
Materia Medica is a homeopath’s central tool. It is a reference work that collects all known homeopathic remedies, categorized into detailed symptom profiles.
During the evening, the audience gets to know the unique characteristics and essences of 16 different remedies. The final thesis will later be expanded into a written publication, enriched by the play’s script and artwork.
“Alone in the desert. Alone in the world. I’m not human, I don’t belong here.
No control. Violence.
I am a lonely warrior.
Androctonus amoreuxi hebraeus, the Scorpion.”
Script and direction by Mrs. Materia Medica: Jonna Laukkanen
Thesis supervisors: Aune Kallinen and Reeta Pohjonen
Sound technician: the renowned Tatu Vanninen
Videography: Miika Josefsson
“Fear makes fools of two kinds of men: the one who is afraid of nothing, and the other who is afraid of everything.” - McKenzie, performed by Agaricus (Fly Agaric)
Agaricus, fly agaric -
ATH principal Reeta Pohjonen
Cast:
Helium — Hanna Kärävä-Holma
Platinum metallicum — Daniela Salomaa
Sepia officinalis — Miia Penttinen
Calcium Carbonicum — Salla Valtonen
Agaricus muscarius — Reeta Pohjonen
Pulsatilla — Birgitta Vaaka
Apis mellifica — Tiia Vehman
Perisoreus infaustus (Kuukkeli) — Pirjo Vuontisjärvi
Cannabis Indica — Jussi Villgren
Adamas alias ”Marilyn Monroe” — Marika Rita
Panthera Parguis Sanguis — Pia Bremer-Nardone
Tetrao urogallis (Metso) — Petri Alen
Mandragora — Vuokko Heiskanen
Thuja occidentalis– Nina Wikström
Phosphorus — Jenni Leino
Adroctonus (Scorpion ) — Mila Hentunen
The Cafe Hahnemann Cast
From Jonna:
At the summer school in 2018, something Reeta said kept echoing in my mind:
“It would be fun to do some small homeopathy thing where we act out the remedies.”
As someone with a background in theatre, the idea felt exciting and familiar. I had previously created several process-based performances, so the concept of starting from emptiness and gradually building a piece was nothing new. Slowly, the idea began to take shape. Maybe this could even be part of my thesis?
At that point, I had no idea how big and amazing this project would become. I thought it might be interesting to bring remedy profiles to life through performance. I imagined creating a small piece - if anyone would even be willing to act. I asked a couple of fellow students, and in my mind, I had already pictured them as certain remedies. To my delight, no one said no. In fact, people started asking if they could join.
In the end, sixteen incredible people were involved!
The performance evolved naturally as more people joined. They became the inspiration for the remedy characters, and the script began forming around them.
One of the challenges was that the cast lived all over Finland, so we couldn’t hold joint rehearsals before the performance day. We practiced in small groups on a few evenings, and even held a couple of Skype rehearsals.
The evening of the performance exceeded even my wildest dreams. The characters truly came to life, and every actor went beyond themselves. The atmosphere in the studio of Ylioppilasteatteri was magical. The actors were fully present, and the audience was bursting with warmth. We received feedback filled with laughter and tears.
Years ago, I moved to Helsinki because I got the chance to act at Ylioppilasteatteri. One of the theatre’s artistic directors at the time was Aune Kallinen. It was surreal to return to my roots and create this performance with this group and what beautiful full circle it was that Aune is now my supervising teacher.
Thank you to all the wonderful people who took part. The process was incredible and it was what it was because of YOU.
Love you all!
— Jonna
Madam Materia Medica -
Jonna Laukkanen - ATH graduate