Following the success of their 25th anniversary show “Pollen: The Musical” in autumn 2016, The Algarveans Experimental Theatre Group have selected an amazing show for this autumn’s production at Lagoa Auditorium – “Kindertransport” by Diane Samuels.
Kindertransport was a plan formed in 1938, in reaction to Kristallnacht and the rising Nazi threat, to evacuate children from Germany and Eastern Europe. Before World War II erupted, nearly 10,000 youngsters, most of them Jewish, had made it to England. This show approaches the subject from the unusual perspective of a child, who escaped the immediate horrors but paid a heavy price anyway.
The play is set in the attic of a suburban London house in the 1980s. Evelyn, a brusque middle-aged housewife, and her daughter Faith are sorting through the cardboard boxes and old possessions. Theirs is a touchy relationship, which unfolds as the show progresses; the air is charged with animosity and misunderstanding.
At the same time, in a series of flashbacks, we follow the progress of Eva, a frightened nine-year-old Jewish girl. Tagged like a piece of luggage, she leaves her mother in Hamburg and travels to England where the well-meaning Lil takes over her upbringing. Little by little the distraught child grows into a reserved young woman. Her accent fades as do the old traumas, or so you would think.
It will not take long for audience members to figure out that the two parts of the play are really halves of the same story. The audience has to discover how Eva relates to Evelyn and how quarrels of the present are tied to the upheavals of the past.
“We are thrilled to be producing this thought-provoking show, which tells its story in a charming yet powerful way. You will smile with tears in your eyes,” said the show’s director Chris Winstanley, who is excited to be given the opportunity to lead the play after directing critically acclaimed shows in the Algarve such as “Pollen: The Musical”, “Talking Heads”, “Calendar Girls”, “Honk! The Musical” and “Daisy Pulls It Off”.
“Kindertransport” will be performed at Lagoa Auditorium on November 22 to 24, starting at 7.45pm.
Tickets are priced at €12 and are already available by calling 913 723 611 or 966 211 634 or emailing [email protected]
Photo: Show director Chris Winstanley introducing the play to members of our theatre group earlier this year
