Note: No longer in repertoire!

Due to the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 situation, Helsinki City Theatre has cancelled all performances in the spring 2021 season.

We will contact all customers who have purchased or reserved tickets. Our customer service is available by phone at (09) 394 022, Mon–Fri from 9 am to 4 pm.

 

Punaorvot is a moving exploration of a profound national trauma and a silenced chapter in Finnish history following the Civil War. The nation was divided, and the war left Finland with nearly 25,000 Red orphans. Children were put on trial and sent to prison camps. Led by the country’s ruling elite, a plan emerged to remove the Reds’ children from the cities and their supposedly unfit working-class mothers, placing them in what were considered ideologically superior homes in Ostrobothnia. Everything was in short supply, but applying for poor relief meant losing both the right to vote and one’s children.

Punaorvot tells the story of a family living on Toisella linjalla. The father has died in the post-war reprisals, and the mother is forced to give up her children because she cannot provide enough food for them. The play follows the lives of the mother and her children in Helsinki and with foster families in Ostrobothnia. It is a moving portrayal of a mother’s love, hope and
forgiveness – giving a voice to those who were entirely innocent of the events unfolding around them.

Performance rights are administered by Anneli Kanto and Lauri Maijala.