UW-Milwaukee Theatre Department’s latest offering, Orphan Train, passionately communicated a slice of American history grossly underrepresented in standard curriculum and common knowledge. From 1853-1929 the Orphan Train Movement (known at the time as “Free Adoption”) transported 500,000 destitute children from New York City to various locations in the Midwest. There they were “adopted out” into indentured slavery with zero background checks for adopters. Although some fortuitously ended up in loving homes that furnished food, shelter and education, the majority did not. Horrifying cases of abuse and even murder are recounted here, alongside the stories of perseverance and love.
This company-constructed work began with a skeletal script by director Robin Mello, which was then substantially changed and expanded by all members of the company through workshops, dramaturgical research, rehearsal and improvisation. The production featured strong performances, beautiful choral hymns in multi-part harmony and a high level of commitment all around.
A few standouts included Eleanor Wenker as both Sister Irene—founder of New York Foundling Hospital, which provided many of the trains’ passengers—and Catherine Beecher, a forward-thinking advocate for women’s education and the clearest voice of contemporary skepticism about the Orphan Train’s methodology. Wenker embodied these very different ideologies with depth and respect. Parker Muñoz was likewise commanding as Charles Loring Brace, founder of the Children’s Aid Society, which carried out the actual “adoptions.” His performance was strong for its earnest portrayal of a man whose actions were unconscionable by today’s standards but who truly believed in the merit of his plan to give New York’s impoverished children a second chance by bringing them to families in need of laborers.
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Production elements were commendable. Included were several authentic “crazy quilts,” a popular 19th-century device for cataloguing personal stories and—in the case of one orphan played by the eloquent Karah Minelli—the various identities and surnames she went through being bounced from home to home. The set was strewn with trunks and crates and the sound of a train whistle was ever-present. A projection screen for period photographs and historical facts lent further veracity to the set and setting.
Running one weekend only, Orphan Train was an insightful and appropriately complex exploration of the frightening roots of the America foster care system.
