The Lilla theater was founded in 1940 by Oskar and Eija Ternström. The main theater is on Yrjönkatu and the smaller Pikku-Lillan (Tiny Lillan) is at Erottajankatu 7. The main theater has 100 seats. Lillan is famous and much loved for its comedies, but classical drama is part of the repertoire as well. Lilla was the first theater ever to perform Moomin plays (the world-famous characters based on Tove Jansson's children's books) in 1955 when Vivica Bandler became director. The company has toured in Sweden, Norway, Hungary and Russia, and performances are both in Swedish and in Finnish. Birgitta Ulfsson, Lasse Pöysti, Asko Sarkola, Kaija Korhonen and Tove Appelgren are some famous actors who have participated at Lillan, which received the Europarådets hederpris prize in 1985.