Stage Konepaja
Stage Konepaja is a two-stage theatre venue in Vallila, Helsinki. The venue is run by Universum ry, a registered non-profit theatre association, Business ID 1527631-7.
Universums mission is to provide production infrastructure for small, independent and artistically ambitious theatre companies. We produce premieres, host visiting productions, and bring performances that the large institutional theatres do not make for Helsinki audiences.
Two auditoriums, two languages
The main auditorium seats 208 and the studio stage seats up to 80. Having two auditoriums allows Universum for the first time in the association’s history, to run productions simultaneously.
The programme includes drama, contemporary dance, music theatre, clown theatre and concerts, among others. Performances are done in Finnish, Swedish and English, and some are surtitled. Two of Universum’s member theatres work in Swedish, which makes Stage Konepaja one of the few bilingual professional stages in Helsinki.
The 2026 season features close to twenty productions by more than ten different companies.
What Universum does
Universum ry takes care of the support services that performances require: ticketing, stage technology, marketing and the upkeep of the premises. The association gives small companies without premises of their own access to infrastructure they could not maintain alone.
The association rents its stages to programme partners and visiting companies. The premises are intended to be shared by a wider group of artists on terms below market rates. This is a precondition for the survival of Finland’s independent performing arts sector in the current funding climate.
Not run for profit
Universum ry does not make a profit by subletting its premises to other artists. Box office revenue from performances goes in full to the company presenting the work.
Our work and the launch of the new venue have been supported substantially by the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finnish Arts and Culture Agency, Swedish Cultural Foundation and the City of Helsinki.
Universum and the programme partners
Universum ry is a production collective formed by four professional theatre companies from Helsinki: Aurinkoteatteri, Teater Mars, Sirius Teatern and Teatteri Venus. The association has been active for more than 25 years.
Alongside Universum’s own member theatres, the programme is produced by our programme partners: Höyhentämö, Liisa Pentti +Co, Teatteri Metamorfoosi, Red Nose Company, Porttiteatteri, Post Theatre Collective, Teatteri Quo Vadis, Stjärnfall and Unga Teatern.
The idea at the heart of the venue is that every community involved contributes something of its own to a shared artistic environment. Each company is responsible for its own programme. Our aim is to secure good working conditions for every company that shares the premises.
From Betania to Konepaja
Universum worked for over 25 years in the Betania church in Punavuori. Around a hundred premieres were staged there, and the venue established itself as a central stage for Helsinki’s independent theatre scene. That chapter ended when the building went into renovation in 2024.
The agreement on Stage Konepaja was signed in April 2025, and the premises opened at the beginning of 2026.
The building
The venue occupies a former locomotive repair hall in the Vallila Konepaja district, at Aleksis Kiven katu 17. The building was completed in 1903 — almost the same year as the Betania church, which dates from 1904.
The property is owned by Train Factory Oy. The building also houses the bar Tähti, which runs a music-led programme in the venue’s spaces.