Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of Theatre & Dance Presents Award-Winning, Holocaust-Themed Play ‘Kindertransport’ Feb. 18-22
Ohio Wesleyan University will present five performances of ‘Kindertransport’ Feb. 18 through Feb. 22. The play looks at children displaced during World War II. OWU junior Margot Reed, left, portrays ‘Helga,’ and junior Katie Patrick is ‘Eva.’ (Photo by D. Glen Vanderbilt Jr.)
DELAWARE, Ohio – Ohio Wesleyan University’s Department of Theatre & Dance will present the contemporary, award-winning British drama “Kindertransport” in five performances Feb. 18 through Feb. 22.
The play, written by Diane Samuels, is inspired by the real-life experiences of nearly 10,000 mostly Jewish children shipped out of Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia prior to the outbreak of World War II. Many of these children never saw their families again. Critics have described “Kindertransport” as “searing theatre that cuts across a continuum of suffering to the very heart of what unifies us as human.”
Ohio Wesleyan’s performances will begin at 8 p.m. Feb. 18, 19, 20, and 21, with a 2 p.m. matinee performance Feb. 22. All performances will be held in the Studio Theatre inside Chappelear Drama Center, 45 Rowland Ave., Delaware.
This intense and cinematic play moves forward and back in time between 1939 and 1979, pulling the audience into the story of Eva, who is sent away by her mother, Helga, and ultimately adopted by a British woman, Lillian.
Believing that her family is dead, Eva adopts British customs, religion, changes her name, and later does not even tell her own daughter, Faith, about her childhood until one fateful day when they are sorting through their attic. Pain, loss, rejection, and survival are all intensely woven into this compelling play, which is not intended for young audiences.
Ohio Wesleyan’s production of “Kindertransport” is directed by theatre professor D. Glen Vanderbilt Jr., who also provides set and lighting design with assistance from OWU senior stage manager Zoe Crankshaw. Costume design is provided by OWU costume shop manager Jacqueline Shelley with assistance from OWU sophomore Emily Polter.
Polter also provides language and dialect assistance along with German language professor Thomas Wolber and part-time theatre instructor Bradford Sadler, a 2005 OWU graduate.
The cast is headed by juniors Katie Patrick (Eva), Margot Reed (Helga), and first-year students Rachel Scherrer (Evelyn), Harper Toney (Lillian), and Kacie Iuvara (Faith). They are supported by junior Luke Steffen (station guard), sophomores Anderson Molina and Trenton Williams (the Ratcatchers), and first-year students T.J. Galamba (Nazi guard), Khayyam Zubair (station organizer), and Charlie Lennon (postman).
General admission for this and all Ohio Wesleyan Theatre & Dance productions is $10, and admission for senior citizens, OWU faculty/staff, and non-OWU students is $5. Admission is free for Ohio Wesleyan students with a valid university ID. Call (740) 368-3855 for reservations, or visit https://www.owu.edu/academics/departments-programs/department-of-theatre-dance/ for more details. (Please note that because of the production’s unique seating arrangement, latecomers cannot be seated until intermission.)
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers 86 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Ohio Wesleyan combines a challenging, internationally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities to connect classroom theory with real-world experience. OWU’s 1,750 students represent 46 U.S. states and territories and 43 countries. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.