PHOTOS BY DANI EL LIPPITT

As Kindertransportopens the JET season, its director
shares her feelings about directing a Holocaust play, and
actual survivors tell their stories.

MICHAEL H. MARGOLIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

n 1938, the growing tide of

anti-Sernitisin in Germany
came to a head in "the
pogrom known as Kristall-
nacht. Thousands of businesses
owned by Jews and Jewish insti-
tutions were destroyed. Jews
were assaulted and killed; some
30,000 were herded into concen-
tration camps.
Out of this crisis, Jewish par-
ents formed the Movement for the
Care of Children from Germany,

and began sending their children
to_ relative safety in Britain,
America-- and Paraguay. For
many, this parting was final.
At one point as many as 700
children — ranging from
preschoolers to teen-agers (18 was
the cutoff point) — were arriving
in England weekly. Almost
10,000 children made the journey

Cheryl Leigh Williams, Evelyn Orbach
and Hilary Ramsden rehearse for JET's
production of Kindertransport.

Cheryl Leigh Williams and Dana Acheson prepare for the JET opening.

with large "J"s stamped on their
passports, many given a second
name: Israel for boys, Sarah for
girls.
The rescue operation was
called Kindertransport, as is Di-
ane Samuel's fictional exploration
of one child's experience, which
opens the '96-'97 season at the
Jewish Ensemble Theatre (JET).
Kindertransport, first per-
formed by the Soho Theatre Com-
pany at the Cockpit Theatre in

London, England, in April 1993,
received its first U.S. production
at the Manhattan Theatre Club,
opening in May 1994. It reopened
in England last month at the
Vaudeville Theatre in London—
this time in the West End, the
equivalent of Broadway.
The play spans four decades,
beginning in 1938 when 7-year-
old Eva Schlesinger boards a
train for London. Her passport is
marked with the ubiquitous "J";

a few valuables are hidden in the
heel of her shoe.
The play shifts to the late '70s,
when Eva's adult daughter dis-
covers a box of papers — relics
hidden by her mother, whose
guilt at surviving has driven her
to secrecy and an assimilation so
complete she rejects her own real
self.
The play moves between the
past and the present, fueled by
intergenerational conflict.
In Diane Samuels' plain prose,
Kindertransport is a confronta-
tion with issues of survival and
what one does out of love. And
anger. And guilt.
There are five major charac-
ters, all women. The sole male
character plays various roles —
realistic and symbolic — includ-
ing the Ratcatcher, a Teutonic bo-
geyman.
The underpinnings of horror
and fear are palpable in the text,
but reconciliation, emotional and
spiritual, emerges as the central
theme. El

e

Kindertransport runs at
the Jewish Ensemble The-
ater in the Aaron DeRoy The-
atre, 6600 West Maple, West
Bloomfield, through Nov. 3.
Previews are Thursday, Oct.
10, and Saturday, Oct. 12.
Opening night is Sunday,
Oct. 13. Wednesday, Thurs-
day and Sunday perfor-
mances are at 7:30 p.m.;
Saturday performances are
at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinees
are at 2 p.m. (There is an ad-
ditional Wednesday matinee
on Wednesday, Oct. 16, at 2
p.m. Ticket prices are $13-
$23. For tickets and infor-
mation, call JET at (810)
788-2900 or Ticketmaster at
(810) 645-6666.