REVIEW: Kindertransport

In the nine months prior to the outbreak of WWII the British Government orchestrated a mass transfer of Jewish children from Germany and other countries to Great Britain, where they were to be temporarily fostered until it was safe for them to return. The operation was known as The Kindertransport and accounted for the rescue of some 10,000 children.

Diane Samuels’ play, Kindertransport is a fictionalised family drama built on historical facts. Eva (Sarah Greenwood) is a nine year old German Jew who is sent to England by her parents and is fostered by a childless couple, Mr and Mrs Miller. She strives to stay in touch with her parents and even find work for them in England, but over the length of the war, her hope wanes. Meanwhile, she develops affection for her foster parents and assumes a British sensibility to the extent that she anglicises her name to Evelyn and is eventually naturalised. When her mother, whom Eva had presumed dead, shows up unexpectedly after the war to take Eva to New York it causes a crisis of conscience and emotion for all concerned.

The story is told in three time frames: Eva with her mother, Helga (Emma Palmer) at home prior to the war; Eva in England with her foster mother, Lil Miller (Annie Byron); and Eva/Evelyn (Camilla Ah Kin) as an adult with her daughter, Faith (Harriet Gordon-Anderson) and an older Lil Miller. Faith, a teenager about to move out of home, discovers a trunk that reveals her mother’s true, hidden past.

Christopher Tomkison plays incidental male characters (German soldier, postman, station master) but it is otherwise a female cast exploring emotionally complex mother/daughter relationships. Each mother in each scenario allows her protective instinct to guide her judgement, only to evoke thankless anger for her good intentions which is sometimes heart-wrenchingly painful to watch.

The performance are all extraordinary. Greenwood is stirring as child Eva; Ah Kin has a commanding presence as adult Eva; Byron is endearing and shows great skill in pivoting between scenes as younger and older versions of her character.

It is a very moving  production, with some genuinely funny moments and a refugee story that is, unfortunately relevant today.

Until Aug 20. Eternity Playhouse (Darlinghurst Theatre), 39 Burton St, Darlinghurst. $38-$54. Tickets & Info: www.darlinghursttheatre.com

Reviewed by Rita Bratovich