Student life

Spex

A spex is an interactive musical play created by students, which combines acting, music and dance into an ambitious all-night musical. One of the special features of the spex is that the actors, band and dancers are at times following the script and at times the wishes of the audience. The audience can influence the events on the stage by shouting “Omstart!,” after which the people on stage will improvise a more or less different version of what just happened. For example, by shouting “Omstart! Weather at sea,” you might get a look into the storm status of recent days.

The spexes stem from the 16th century Uppsala, where students were taught Latin by means of theatre. The first ones to bring the spexes to Finland were technical students in the 1930s who performed the spexes as part of their campaigns. Since then, the tradition faded and only revived in the the early 1990s. In the late 1980s and the 1990s, the spex tradition expanded into the student culture of universities and higher education institutions.

In addition to Aalto University, the spex has now been established as part of the cultural events organised by students all over Finland, and they offer an excellent place to unleash creativity for those who do not enjoy the limelight. In addition to actors, musicians and dancers, the spex requires costume and stage design teams, technicians, event planners, as well as marketing and corporate relations teams.

There are four spexes organised within AYY. The Teekkarispeksi (in Finnish) and KY Speksi (in Finnish) are organised annually, while the Physicist Spex (in Finnish) is organised every other year. Teknologföreningen also organises its own spex.

Omstart! More info on the spex!

  • In the 16th century Sweden, the plays were based on classic themes and, due to the students’ gender division back then, all actors were male. Men played both great historical men and stunning beauties.
  • The Swedish spex gained its current form over the next 300 years or so.
  • The spex tradition is still going strong in Sweden, and nearly all student groups have their own spex.
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