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March 14, 2008
Bonds of forgiveness
Kindertransport deals with issues about identity.
OLGA LIVSHIN
Kindertransport, by British playwright Diane Samuels, raises universal questions with which we all grapple: Who are we? Is our identity determined by our nationality, family or faith? Do we owe unquestionable loyalty to the religion of our ancestors or to the love of our mothers? Persecution and trust, gratitude and betrayal are interconnected in this play, which at opened at the Jericho Arts Centre on Feb. 28.
For the children of real Kindertransport, sent away from their homes on the brink of the Second World War, thrust into new lives without a way back, ordered to survive while their families perished in the inferno of the Holocaust, such hypothetical questions developed into life-altering reality. And some lives have been crushed underneath the heavy burden of answers.
Produced by Meta.for Theatre and directed by Michael Fera, Kindertransport shows us that the past doesn't disappear under the avalanche of modern news, that it's still as germane as ever and that we have to remember.
In 1939, after the terrible events of Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, when numerous Jewish homes and businesses in Germany and Austria were destroyed by the Nazis, about 10,000 Jewish children were sent to England. The last children's train escaped Germany just two days before the start of the war.
Hundreds of households in England, some Jewish, some Christian, welcomed the displaced Jewish children into their homes, offering the young refugees unconditional love and acceptance, despite the barriers of language, culture and religion. Some older children tried to cling to their memories. Most of the younger ones simply abandoned their roots and mother tongues, embracing their new families in their new homeland.
Kindertransport tells a story of one of the kinder, nine-year-old Eva. The action switches back and forth between Eva's journey from Berlin to England in 1939 and an attic in London in 1979. With a plain, unchanging set, the alternating time periods are indicated by a spotlight, which is almost a character in itself. In the semidarkness of the stage, it focuses on the relevant parts of the story, moving constantly between the heroes, highlighting the monstrous times and the human agonies.
The play starts with Eva's last farewell to her mother, Helga. Fiona Martinelli as Helga is writhing in mental turmoil, a mother who had to cast her daughter away to save her daughter's life. We then follow Eva from Berlin to Manchester, where British woman Lil has prepared a warm welcome for her new Jewish daughter. Nancy Bell portrays Lil as a loving foster mother who wanted one thing – peace in her home – and if that meant sacrificing her daughter's Jewish identity, it would only be for the best.
We witness the lonely girl growing up, trying to adjust to her new life, while missing the old one desperately. Anastasia Capt in the role of young Eva shows us how, exhausted by the unending clashes between her two identities, Jewish and British, Eva finally made the decision to renounce her Jewish past and become a British citizen.
By the time the war is over and her Jewish mother comes for her, Eva is fully assimilated. She has shaken off her origins and even taken the British name Evelyn to complete the transformation. Devastated by Eva's betrayal of her heritage, Helga hurls heavy accusations at Evelyn before departing for America without her daughter.
Forty years later, Evelyn's young daughter, Faith, decides to leave home. Miranda Duffy as Faith is a perky and inquisitive modern woman, unprepared to find out about the cruel tragedies of the past. While packing in the attic, she discovers old letters and photographs belonging to Eva/Evelyn. Curious, Faith begins asking questions of her mother and grandmother. The entire tangle of Evelyn's buried Jewish identity, her struggles and betrayal, springs out like a horde of angry ghosts, hurting Faith, Evelyn and Lil – but forging a deep bond of forgiveness between the three.
Tanja Dixon-Warren plays Eva's older self, Evelyn, as a woman tortured by her past, unsure of her present and unable to reconcile with her personal choices. Drowning in her losses, guilt and hope, Evelyn is still blindly groping for survival.
One more character, a mythical rat-catcher, populates the play. Sometimes ominous, sometimes indifferent, this personage from children's fairy tales, a German variation of the Pied Piper, haunts the girl Eva as a Nazi officer in Germany, an immigration official in London and a postman in Manchester. An embodiment of the family secrets, suppressed for 40 years, he comes back to menace the grown Evelyn, reminding her that the past can't be erased. Played by Raphael Kepinsky, the dark and sinister rat-catcher adds a veil of mystery to the already painful family drama.
Nothing is resolved by the end of the drama, just as it often is left in real life. We only see glimpses of possible solutions, sparks that could lead to hope and redemption.
KinderTransport runs until March 15. For more information, visit www.jerichoartscentre.com.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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