Ranta was originally a stage-play written by Paavo Westerberg and directed by Kalle Chydenius, which had its opening night on January 11, 2006. All 34 shows at three locations (Korjaamo in Helsinki, Turun Linnateatteri, Turku and KOM-teatteri, Helsinki) were sold-out. One of these shows were filmed for TV broadcast.
Paavo Westerberg wrote Ranta after meetings/discussions between the members of Akseli Ensemble (Samuli Edelmann, Laura Malmivaara, Juho Milonoff, Vilma Melasniemi, Emmi Pesonen, Marko Kulmala, Aki Louhimies and Paavo Westerberg) and famous personalities among Finnish culture (Jörn Donner, Märta Tikkanen, Timo Torikka and others). The themes for these meetings were finding answers to the essential things in life - faith, hope and love - and how it had effected their own lives.