Kindertransport - a play by Diane Samuels

At the start of February I'll going to watch an exciting new production, premièred at the Carriageworks Theatre in Leeds – Kindertransport by Diane Samuels. One of the actors, Alan Buttery, is a graduate of German at Leeds.

The play tells the story of a young Jewish girl, Eva, who travels from Germany to Manchester in the winter of 1938/9 as part of the ‘Kindertransport’ programme organised by the British Government to grant safe passage to Britain for Jewish children in Germany persecuted under the National Socialist regime. The focus of the play is on how the adult Eva (now called Evelyn) deals with her past and constructs a new identity for herself. For more information, please see the playwright’s website: http://www.dianesamuels.com/index.php/theatre/kinder-transport. 

I'm excited to attend the pre- and post- performance workshops that will discuss many of the key themes and issues within the play that will further my understanding and empathy towards survivors of the Holocaust.

It feels really relevant to attend the workshops, especially in light of the discussion after the final 'Falling to our knees' performance last Tuesday. The input from the cast felt vital when considering the measures to be taken to ensure that future generations can be informed of the Holocaust and learn about it in more accessible ways that just copying from a textbook or whiteboard.