Review: Punaorvot

Theatre review: Red Orphans tells the story of forgotten children and reminds us of the many ways in which a family can be broken

Helsinki City Theatre’s new performance may not be clear with dry eyes.

“Shoemaker, tailor, Pietari.”

The simple tunes of the old song rise into the air with wounding wistfulness. After the Civil War, children’s games are dominated by death, and the once joyful songs echo longing.

A family living on the Second Line in Helsinki has been torn to pieces. Her father died in the aftermath of the Civil War, and the grief-stricken mother is unable to take care of her four children. There is a constant shortage of food, and children who used to wear the red ribbon with pride are not looked upon favorably in the city.

The white elite has a plan: these children of revolutionaries must be transferred to better growing conditions. In Ostrobothnia, there is enough food for children, but above all, strict discipline and the right values. The mother’s or children’s pleas don’t matter much.

Red Orphans, which premiered at the Helsinki City Theatre on Wednesday, is a harrowing tale of the horrors of the post-Civil War. The war left behind nearly 25,000 Red orphans, whose only tragedy in life was by no means the loss of a parent. A total of 1,700 children were relocated to Ostrobothnia. Some were treated like beloved family members, some worse than stray dogs.

The first half of the performance, written by Anneli Kanto and Lauri Maijala , is screaming pain and creepy chaos. The fears of war are thrown straight into the lap of the viewer. After the intermission, the atmosphere changes completely and the narrative partly moves to the level of symbolism. The more sensitive ones cannot survive the other half with dry eyes.

The story of a family that lived on the Second Line in Helsinki tells in a horrific way how many ways a family can be broken. The different fates of the four children are united by their desolation.