Review: Punaorvot
Impressive Red Orphans
The victims of the civil war were the children of the Reds, who were innocent of the political squabbles of the adults. Anneli Kanto and Lauri Maijala wrote a play about the fate of these children, The Red Orphans, which makes the audience think about the fate of these little ones.
“This performance is about those who were deprived of everything and who were given nothing. About those who remained silent and about whom they were silent. Those who were forgotten and then forgotten,” says director Lauri Maijala in the play’s script.
Red Orphans, performed on the small stage of the Helsinki City Theatre, sheds light on the harsh fate of the Reds, the Reds and children through the eyes of a family from Kallio. At the beginning of the play, the father of the family is killed for hiding weapons. The family’s four children are left half-orphaned. The mother (Ella Mettänen) becomes depressed and paralyzed. The family’s adolescent children, Aarre (Antti Autio) and Lahja (Wenla Reimaluoto), try to run the family’s everyday life while their neighbour Elli (Riitta Havukainen) helps.
In the midst of all the grief, the family’s baby also dies. The Homes for Homeless Children organisation will pick up the family’s 6-year-old Ilona (Anna Böhm) to be placed in a home in Ostrobothnia. The family’s opposition is of no use. The family’s poor relief is threatened to be terminated if the child is not given away. Lahja doesn’t want to send her little sister alone, but goes with her.
The children are placed in different families. Ilona gets a loving family. The gift does not fare as well: he is mainly in the position of a slave.
Towards the end of the play, the paralyzed, depressed mother manages to pull herself together. After all the horror, the end of the play gives a faint glimmer of light, at least for a moment.
The casting is very successful, everyone deserves thanks. Ella Mettänen’s mother is harrowing in all her depression, down to the smallest gestures. Kari Mattila’s The White Guards and Santa Claus are believably chilling. Riitta Havukainen’s strong professionalism is evident in Elli’s role.
The play is really impressive. Lauri Maijala’s direction is of guaranteed Maijala quality. I raised my eyebrows a little to the dance part after the intermission with glitter clothes. I didn’t really understand the point.
Red Orphans made the viewer think about all the brutality innocent children have had to experience just because they were born into a red family. Even though there was no experience of such horrors in my family, it is unacceptable, no matter what your political convictions are. Perhaps the idea behind it was to do good, even though the methods were completely wrong?
When I got home, sleep didn’t come easily, as my thoughts were on the children and their mothers. Even so, after a couple of days, the feeling is very strong.
This play can be recommended to everyone as a general education. It is important to know the history of your own country, even if it also reveals horrors.
Kaisa
PS. I felt safe in the theatre, as the auditorium was only half full. Almost all spectators wore masks on their faces. Hand sanitizer and masks were available in the lobby. Coats were allowed in the auditorium, and catering had to be ordered in advance to avoid traffic jams and queues. All spectators respected the safety distances.