Aalto University's Magics infrastructure, Kapsäkki Music Theatre and Greta Tuotanto are conducting scientific research into the impact of performing arts. The research will be carried out in conjunction with the UKK musical play by measuring both the audience experience and the performers' experiences in various, innovative ways.

UKK is a lively cabaret about political history and the autocratic Finland of the Kekkonen era. The new production by Greta Tuotanto and Musiikkiteatteri Kapsäkki premiered on October 3, 2024 and will continue until February 2025. Finlandia Award-winning author Sirpa Kähkönen shows off her humorist skills in the musical play together with director Taru Mäkelä, known for several comedy films. The play is based on careful historical research, but its perspectives may be surprising or even harsh to some.

The central character of the comedy, which playfully shakes up Finland's recent history, is the people who admire their autocratic ruler. Also involved in the shenanigans are the UKK's competitors who have been pushed aside in the power games, as well as the story's charming narrator, Lottotyttö. At the heart of UKK are smear campaigns, obscure secrets, and laughter and lack of restraint. The show is a snapshot of the period of Finlandization and at the same time crystallizes the eternal truth: it is delusional to cling to power and imagine that you can play with human destinies.
The performance collects data on the experience and emotional response in several ways. There are touch screens in the space for viewers to immediately rate their viewing experience on a scale of 1–6. In addition, we guide the audience to fill out a questionnaire at home, which asks in more detail about the viewers' experiences of the play. The performers also fill out a short survey after each performance.

In the performance space, we also measure sounds, which at least in the form of applause indicate the success of the performance, as well as the CO2 concentration in the hall, which indicates how the audience has breathed during the performance. For example, accelerated breathing indicates tension. The experimental setup allows us to gain an idea of how successful the performance was in the opinion of the audience and the performers. We assume that there is fluctuation in “success” across different metrics. It is interesting to see, for example, whether the performers and the audience experience different performances in the same way.

There is not much measurement of the kind described in the performing arts field. We hope that by combining innovative research and technology, we will not only gain useful information for artists, but also useful data to defend the position of performing arts in the cultural and political struggle of our time.