by Paula Citron
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Kindertransport
Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company
Written by Diane Samuels
Directed by Christopher Newton
Starring Jennifer Dzialoszynski, Nancy Beatty, Corrine Koslo, Patricia Hamilton, Jenny Young and Anthony Bekenn
At the Al Green Theatre until Nov. 23
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Between 1938 and 1939, 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi Germany were sent by their parents to safety. Diane Samuel’s play Kindertransport is about one of those children. Eva finds a loving home in the British midlands, but the trauma cuts through generations. In the play we also meet Eva’s real mother and her foster mother, her adult self and her own daughter. There are no happy endings.
There are weaknesses in Samuel’s play. The lone male figure, various incarnations of the evil Ratcatcher, is just too symbolically heavy-handed, and some of the dialogue circles in on itself. Nonetheless, the strong women’s roles are performed by a dream cast.
Visionary director Christopher Newton, working with set designer Cameron Porteous, has created a debris field of boxes and suitcases which becomes a metaphor for lives in disarray. Tyler Devine’s video of archival footage completes the bleak tone.
This play is harrowing, but it should be seen.
Kindertransport continues at the Al Green Theatre until Nov. 23.