Kindertransport

Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, Britain took in over 10,000 mostly Jewish refugee children from Europe.

This event has now passed.

The rescue effort was known as Kindertransport. Separated from their families and fostered out to British homes, most of the children never saw their parents again.

Diane Samuels’ extraordinary play is about this emergency immigration and its effect over time on generations. Based on real accounts with a distinctly female perspective, centring on the experience of one child, Eva, Kindertransport tells a powerful story of survival.

It begins in 1938 when 9 year old Eva is helped to pack her case by her mother Helga in Hamburg. Nearly fifty years later, Faith discovers a box of papers and photos in her mother Evelyn’s attic and wants to know the truth about who this Eva actually is.

Diane Samuels’ play traces the way memory, remembered and forgotten, deeply affects the present. As such, Kindertransport is a story that transcends time and remains particularly relevant today. Aside from its political and historical context, at its core, the play is centred on a universal human experience, the inevitable separation between a child and parent.

Director Sandra Eldridge has undergone extensive research, and with guidance from the Sydney Jewish Museum, our cast have had the opportunity to meet with Kinder survivors.

With lauded performances on London’s West End and Off-Broadway, Darlinghurst Theatre Company is proud to produce the Australian professional premiere of Kindertransport.

Find out more about Darlinghurst Theatre Company

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