A Touching Tale of Trauma

Kindertransport - Diane Samuels

Performed by Progress Theatre in Reading (27/10/08)

For the first production I have seen by Progress Theatre, Kindertransport definitely formed a brilliant first impression of their work.  From the innovative set design to the stunningly convincing characters, I enjoyed every aspect of this performance.

Kindertransport tells the traumatic tale of Eva Schlesinger, evacuated from Germany just months before the outbreak of the Second World War.  As a Jewish girl in a Nazi stronghold, her parents send her to England to live a safer life away from her home.  Parallel to this is the story of Lil, Evelyn and Faith; three generations of women, who forty years or so after the war, are struggling with similar issues surrounding identity, love and loss.

However, the first thing that struck me about the theatre was how remarkably small it was.  It had a quaint appearance with a pleasant community feel, but a small space like that is bound to present difficulties.  It’s fair to say that the company did a good job of overcoming them in creating some challenging locations, and the simplistic set design combined with the action onstage did enough to create two very different yet connected worlds.

Eva’s world is one of sadness and fear, but the director did manage to balance the tone of the performance to uplift the audience from time to time.  The actress playing Lil (Liz Carroll) often brought us some light relief with her quirky British humour.  The only male in the cast, Steve Webb, who performed five roles, also delivered cheeky comedy to a good reception; a deep contrast to his more fearful characters, the Nazi official and the Ratcatcher, with which he showed great diversity as an actor.

One scene that particularly affected me in a more tragic way was one in which Eva (Sadie James) leaves her mother (Laura Lewis) when she departs on the train to England.  Director Lesley McEwan’s decision to stage Helga, Eva’s mother, behind the child meant that the audience could see her hauntingly grievous expressions.  The silent mouthing of the words, “I love you”, accompanied with chilling slow motion waves effectively created that horrible moment when a mother is separated from her child.

Sadie’s performance is also worth particular praise.  Not only did the young actress have to learn her lines, but some of them were in German, and she had never learnt the language prior to the production.  Sadie also made the development in her character extremely clear; from the young, confused German girl, to the more mature Eva, losing her staccato English for a more natural Manchester accent.

Yet, it goes without saying that all the actors showed tremendous talent, and it was clear that a lot of hard work and effort had gone into making this performance a success – it was not in vain.  Even when the unexpected sound effect of nearby fireworks repeatedly interrupted the show, the actors continued without faltering.  It was definitely a successful tribute to the real ‘Kinder’ transported to England before the war, on whose experiences this play is based.  Finally, if future productions continue to be of this standard, then I will certainly support Progress Theatre for some time to come.

Please comment if you have anything to add to this review of "Kindertransport".

Coming Out of the Cold

On this, the 141st day since I last blogged (and, incidentally, the 250th year since Robert Burns was born), I've decided to come in out of the cold. I've been laying dormant for a few months, but I'm a student now, so what do you expect? If I didn't hibernate for the half the year, only waking up to eat a Hob Nob, scratch my nose and catch the odd episode on iPlayer, I think I'd be socially cast out from university.

Well... perhaps not.

Anyway, I've now got a firm grip on life here in Reading. I go running a few times a week, and it's not poofy running either - it's proper running with people who are so fast they must have eaten an F1 engine. I'm also managing to find the time to cook proper food instead of alternating between baked beans, eggs, super noodles and beans, which apparently doesn't do wonders for your body. Above all, of course, I'm doing lots of studying, which is naturally the cause of my inactivity over the last few months.

I can at least pretend can't I?

Ok, so maybe it has got something to do with the ridiculous amount of themed club nights, the £1 a bottle nights at the local and the inexplicable inability to say no to any social activity whatsoever in the first term. But I was told to "have fun" by everyone before I left, so I guess I'm just doing as I'm told.

Don't go thinking I've been neglecting my reviewing front though - I have been doing something! Whilst this blog might have been gathering dust, I've been tip-tapping away for the student newspaper, Spark*. Of course, it would be selfish if Reading was the only town my talent was felt in. So, just to get the ball rolling again, I thought I'd start sharing these reviews with you and the rest of the world wide web.

The first review I'm posting is one I wrote last term on a local performance of Kindertransport, a play by Diane Samuels. So, enjoy and keep your keen eyes open for more to come!