Fundamentalisti
Fundamentalisti is a Finnish play by Juha Jokela, first staged in 2006. It is a dialogue between two people with very different views on religion: Heidi, a fundamentalist, and Markus, a liberal priest who thinks the Bible should be read symbolically rather than literally. The play uses their conversations to highlight the clash between literal and symbolic readings of the Bible.
Their story connects past and present. Years earlier, during a Lent confirmation camp, Markus tried to win Heidi over, damaging their relationship. Years later, Heidi returns with fundamentalist beliefs and finds peace in an ultra-Orthodox community called The Living Word. Markus plans to publish a critical book called General Cleaning in the Cathedral in which he questions a literal reading of the Bible. He wants to rescue Heidi from the sect; Heidi wants to convert him.
Through talks about what is true in the Gospels, they realize saving each other may be harder than they think. Heidi has married the community leader and has children. For a while they stop talking. Markus’s book becomes a bestseller and the press calls him a sensational priest, which makes Heidi worry he is leading himself and others to ruin. She returns to argue with him, fearing he will go to hell and take others with him.
Both begin to doubt their positions. Heidi grows uneasy in her community, and Markus sees that his fame has made him vain. At one point he confesses he still loves her, and she says she loves him too. Their relationship grows, but Markus realizes that his love is fading and that Heidi’s break with her husband mirrors some of her sectarianism. Heidi finds a new person she can trust in Markus, but his attempt to push her to think about herself triggers a mental crisis and a suicide attempt. In the end Heidi is admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The play deals with faith, doubt, love, and the dangers of fanaticism.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 06:58 (CET).