Orphans

By Lyle Kessler. Directed by Paul Tomlinson.

Deserted in childhood by their father and the death of their mother, two orphaned brothers find themselves neglected and forgotten living in a decrepit house in North Philadelphia. Surviving as a pickpocket, the ruthless and violent Treat provides for his naïve and feral younger brother Philip; keeping him sealed off from the world, encased in an eternal childhood filled with Errol Flynn movies and Hellman's mayonnaise.

Upping his game, one night Treat kidnaps wealthy Chicagoan Harold. With motives of his own, this charming and mysterious man adopts the boys, becoming the father they never had. Harold soon stirs tensions between the two brothers, changing forever the delicate power balance of their relationship.

Violent, hilarious and heart breaking; Orphans is a beautifully moving story about the void left by abandonment.