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Kindertransport
The play is a fascinating one on a number of levels. It tells the story of Evelyn and her daughter, Faith. Faith is moving out of the family home and both she and her mother are finding it hard to make the break. In the attic whilst sorting out the teacups, Faith discovers a battered old suitcase of her mother’s childhood things. Buried inside it is a secret – that Evelyn was once Eva, a nine year old Jewish girl who in 1939 was one of the thousands of children sent by their parents to the safety of the UK. Completely unaware of her mother’s background, Faith begins to unwrap her mother’s carefully hidden secret, and the unspoken hurt and desperation that she had buried away with her belongings. Much of the play is based on the testimonies of Kindertransport survivors, but besides telling that story, it is also a play which looks at the relationship between mothers and daughters, and the ties that bind them together.
Mae’r ddrama yn un hynod diddorol ar nifer o lefelau. Mae’n adrodd hanes Evelyn a’i merch, Faith. Mae Faith yn symud allan o’r cartref teuluol ac mae hi a’i mam yn ffeindio’r proses yn un anodd. Yn yr atig tra’n sortio allan y llestri, mae Faith yn dod ar draws hen gês yn llawn o bethau oedd yn perthyn i’w mam yn ystod ei phlentyndod. Wedi’i chladdu yno mae cyfrinach - sef y bu Evelyn un tro yn Eva, Iddewes fach 9 oed a oedd yn un o filoedd o blant a anfonwyd gan eu rhieni ym 1939 i ddiogelwch ym Mhrydain. Yn gwbl anymwybodol o gefndir ei mam, mae Faith yn dechrau dadorchuddio y cyfrinachau a guddiwyd mor ofalus, ynghyd â’r teimladau o siom ac anobaith. Mae llawer o’r ddrama yn seiliedig ar brofiadau’r sawl a oroesodd y Kindertransport, ond yn ogystal ag adrodd y stori honno, mae hi hefyd yn ddrama sy’n edrych ar y perthynas rhwng mamau a’u merched a’r hyn sy’n eu rhwymo at ei gilydd.
Join in with online discussions by posting your questions to Diane or posting your reviews.
A conversation with writer Diane Samuels and director Dan Danson
Author of Kindertransport
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4th Form GCSE Drama at Christ College: We saw ‘Kindertransport’ at Theatr Brycheiniog on Wednesday 15th October. We thoroughly enjoyed the play in every respect and appreciated not only the standard of acting but every facet of the production which came together magnificently to give a very impressive whole. The set, lighting, sound effects and costumes were excellent and created a very clear picture despite the fact that a variety of locations and an impressive time span were all housed in the one attic space.
One question……. could you please explain to us the significance of the printed material placed around the bottoms of the costumes and attic set door? We realise this is most likely related to the propaganda around at the time of the transfer of the children but how does this fit with the bottom of the attic door?
Thank you for writing such a wonderful and informative play with such excellent attention to detail. This subject must be one which is close to your heart.
The fourth form GCSE Drama group at Christ College
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Dan (Director): In the discussions with the designer, we both agreed that the attic room should not be naturalistic. It holds Evelyn's secret memories and fears. For us the characters of Eva, Helga and the Ratcatcher inhabit the room along with the letters and photographs. For Evelyn they are real, like ghosts or imaginary friends, and she keeps them locked away. So we wanted their world to colour the world of the attic too. And as those characters are bound to the actual letters, photographs and storybook, etc, we liked the idea of those things affecting the room and the costumes of Eva and Helga (just as the Ratcatcher is 'summoned' in some form when the story book is opened). What was most important was that the scenes with Eva weren't seen as flashbacks, that take us out of the attic but that they were scenes being re-lived in the room as they were thought of or remembered. So the printed material on the floor and door and in the costumes were to help keep those characters and scenes firmly located in the room. Another possibility regarding the attic which is worth thinking about, is that it is isn't an attic at all, but Evelyn's mind and that everything we see is her memory.
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Ruth (Designer): The use of the pages of text in the set and costumes came from the idea of Evelyn's box of papers relating to her past. I wanted to show how these pieces of her past touched the edges of her life and crowded around her. They formed a texture around the edges of the set, on the floor, the back wall and on the costumes of the characters that belonged to the world of memory.
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Join our online conversation. Send your questions to Diane by e-mail ggo@aber.ac.uk and we'll post your question here.
Ymunwch â'n sgwrs ar-lein. Anfonwch eich cwestiynau at Diane trwy'r e-bost ggo@aber.ac.uk a byddwn yn dangos eich cwestiwn yma.
Your Reviews
Send us your reviews by e-mail to ggo@aber.ac.uk and we'll post them here.