Note: No longer in repertoire!

Anna Takanen’s father was a Finnish war child who was sent to Sweden as a 4-year-old with pneumonia and a father who had been killed at the front.

Timo Takanen longed for home and refused to change to a Swedish surname, while his foster parents only wanted him to belong to them. In the kitchen window, he carved Takanen so that his mother and brother could find him if they came from Finland to look for him. The Swedish mother was afraid of losing him, the Finnish mother was afraid of never getting him back. Timo never moved back home and the trauma was encapsulated in the families both in Sweden and Finland.

In The Grief That Became, Anna Takanen takes us on a shattering journey through history. In an intimate and personal performance, she tenderly, slowly and painfully unravels her father’s family history and the complexities of being the child of a war child.

“It takes four generations before a war goes out of a family. I’m the third generation,” she says.

During her almost 30 years in the theatre world, Anna Takanen has acted, directed and worked as a theatre manager at the Gothenburg City Theatre and at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern in Stockholm. This is her first time on stage in Finland, together with accordion artist Harri Kuusijärvi.

Each performance is rounded off with an audience discussion moderated by Anna Takanen’s cousin, editor and author Päivi Storgård, whose father, unlike her brother Timo, was allowed to stay in Finland. Together, the cousins help to break the silence surrounding the trauma of war children.

Sörjen som blev was published as a novel in 2019 and translated into Finnish, Sina olet suruni, kertomus sotalapsesta ja sotalapsesta lapsesta, was published in 2020.

NOTE! Sörjen who became plays at Lillan only in September! Then it goes on a tour of Sweden.

The performance is a collaboration with Riksteatern and Östgötateatern.

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Anna Takanen’s father was a Finnish war child who lost his father at the front, and was sent to Sweden at the age of 4 with pneumonia.

Timo Takanen longed for home and refused to change to a Swedish surname, while his foster parents hoped that he would be part of the family. He carved the name Takanen on the kitchen window so that his mother and brother would find him if they came from Finland to look for him. The Swedish mother was afraid of losing him, while the Finnish mother was afraid that she would not get her child back. Timo never moved back to Finland and the trauma took root in both the Finnish and Swedish families.

In the performance You Are My Sorrow, Anna Takanen takes the audience on a harrowing journey into the past. In an intimate and personal performance, she tenderly, slowly and painfully unfolds her father’s family story and the complexities of being a child of a war child.

“It will take four generations for war to be wiped out of the family. I’m the third generation,” he says.

During her 30 years in the theatre world, Anna Takanen has acted, directed and worked as a theatre director at the Gothenburg City Theatre and the Stockholm City Theatre Kulturhuset. Now she is acting for the first time in Finland, with accordion artist Harri Kuusijärvi.

After each performance, there will be a discussion session, moderated by Anna Takanen’s cousin, journalist and author Päivi Storgård. Storgård’s father was the younger brother of Timo Takanen, who, unlike his older brother, was allowed to stay in Finland. Together, the cousins try to break the silence associated with war children.

Sörjen som blev is based on Anna’s novel of the same name from 2019. The Finnish translation, You Are My Sorrow, a story about a war child and a war child child, was published in 2020.

The performance is a collaboration with Riksteatern and Östgötateatern.

Note! Performances in Finland only in September!

The performance is in Swedish and it is subtitled in Finnish and Swedish.