Orphans (a play by the British writer Dennis Kelly) is the story of an event in the lives of three people. Helen and her husband Danny are at home celebrating the news that Helen is pregnant with their second child, but their meal is interrupted by Helen’s brother Liam, who arrives covered in blood, claiming that he found an injured boy on the street. The more Danny and Helen grill him, the more it appears that Liam is not as innocent as he makes out.   

In chaotic and true-to-life dialogues, which graphically convey faltering, staccato communication, Kelly meticulously unravels a moral dilemma in which the border between good and evil is wafer-thin and the inconsiderateness of everyone’s behaviour is a metaphor for a wider discussion about racism, discrimination and social deprivation. So 'Orphans' is an unsettling reflection on the capacity within us all to do wrong.   

text - Dennis Kelly by and with - Jolente De Keersmaeker, Frank Vercruyssen, Haider Al Timimi, Gustavo Vieira, Atta Nasser and Evgenia Brendes lighting design - Stef Stessel costumes - Sietske Van Aerde production - tg STAN production coproduced with - Kloppend Hert, Moussem, Toneelhuis, Vooruit