KINDERTRANSPORT

Malvern Festival Theatre

HALL AND CHILDS LTD

Emma Deegan and Gabrielle Dempsey

Diane Samuels' play Kindertransport is the intriguing tale of Eva, one of 10,000 Jewish children that were shipped out of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, to ensure their safety. Past and present moments of Eva's life play out simultaneously as her story unravels, exploring the impact it had (and continues to have) on three generations of family.

Although this play is now on the A level syllabus, the writing and Andrew Hall's direction appears to pitch it more toward a much younger audience. It doesn't really relate to the intellect and awareness of today's teenagers and could be seen as a little patronising. Having said that, the performances more than make up for this. Gabrielle Dempsey is absolutely superb as the protagonist, Eva, handling the emotional content and her character's journey with truth and dexterity. Emma Deegan gives a strong, honest performance as Eva's mother, Helga and Maggie Steed, despite suffering with a cough, proved her metal by soldiering on regardless in her role as Lil. Janet Dibley is perfectly mysterious in her role and Rosie Holden is ideal as her stroppy teenage daughter. There of plenty of unsettling moments provided by Paul Lancaster's in his scary interpretation of the Ratcatcher.

This is a good story and the subject matter is extremely interesting. Fundamentally though this play explores the relationship between mothers and daughters, with the horrors of the Holocoust acting as the catalyst for the familial struggles. Kindertransport runs at Malvern until Saturday.