Mehis Pihla

Writing • 1988-10-28 • Tallinn, Harju District, Estonian SSR, USSR [now Harju County, Estonia]

Mehis Pihla (born October 28, 1988) is an Estonian playwright, screenwriter and director. He is best known for Rahamaa (Business as Usual), a play inspired by the Danske Bank money laundering scandal. At the 2025 Estonian Theatre Awards, Rahamaa won Best Play. Since 2018, Pihla has been a dramaturg and director at the Estonian Drama Theatre. Mehis Pihla was born in Tallinn, Estonia. He graduated from Kose Gümnaasium in 2008. In 2011 he graduated from the University of Tartu with a degree in semiotics and cultural theory. From 2011 to 2012, he worked as a telecommunications and utility networks design engineer. In 2016 Pihla graduated from the Theatre Department of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with a degree in dramaturgy. From 2016 to 2018, he worked as a freelance dramaturg, playwright and director. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Estonian Theatre Union and the Estonian Directors’ and Dramaturgs’ Union. Since 2018, Pihla has worked in the Literary Department of the Estonian Drama Theatre as a dramaturg.