The old centre of Viipuri was surrounded by sizable suburbs that had formed in the 1890s, when Finnish-speaking workers streamed into the city. Their workers’ associations and workers’ theatres formed around this time. There were several workers’ theatres near Viipuri: in the neighbourhoods of Sorvali, Talikkala, Tammisuo and Uuras. These theatres provided a communal evening hobby and performances that had no lack of ambition. Programming didn’t shirk from the challenges posed by classics (Daniel Hjort, La Petite Fadette, The Cross of Gold, Resurrection) or the glitz demanded by operettas (The Cinema Star). Still, it was the amusing popular plays that were often most likely to achieve immediate success. A Maid’s Story (Helsingin piika) was an adaptation of a French play (Une bonne de Paris), but All Hands on Deck (Laivan kannella) was Finnish through and through. The Viipuri amateur performers included several men from the Someroja family, almost all of whom continued in various theatre-related professions after the war.