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Kindertransport: characters, themes and context
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The play explores identity, belonging and the lasting pain of separation.
Characters
Eva/Evelyn: the same person at different ages, sometimes on stage together. Eva is lively; Evelyn is anxious and controlled.
Helga: loving and brave; sending Eva away was an act of love.
Lil: warm and practical, Eva's English mother.
Faith: curious, wanting to know her heritage.
The Ratcatcher: a sinister figure from a German children's story, symbolising fear and loss. The same actor plays several frightening male characters.
Helga: loving and brave; sending Eva away was an act of love.
Lil: warm and practical, Eva's English mother.
Faith: curious, wanting to know her heritage.
The Ratcatcher: a sinister figure from a German children's story, symbolising fear and loss. The same actor plays several frightening male characters.
Context
From 1938, after the violence of Kristallnacht, Britain allowed about 10,000 mainly Jewish children to come without their parents.
Many never saw their parents again. Samuels drew on survivors' stories.
Many never saw their parents again. Samuels drew on survivors' stories.
Themes
Identity: Eva hides her Jewish, German self.
Mothers and daughters: three generations (Helga, Lil, Evelyn, Faith).
Separation and abandonment: Eva feels abandoned, though Helga was saving her.
Memory and the past: buried trauma returns.
Mothers and daughters: three generations (Helga, Lil, Evelyn, Faith).
Separation and abandonment: Eva feels abandoned, though Helga was saving her.
Memory and the past: buried trauma returns.
What does the Ratcatcher represent?
- He comes from a German story about a figure who leads children away.
- He appears at moments of fear and loss.
- He symbolises the terror of persecution and of losing home and family.
Answer: The terror of persecution and the loss of home and family, which haunts Eva.
Eva/Evelyn: one person, two ages. Helga: sacrifice. Lil: English mother. Faith: discovery. Ratcatcher: fear. Context: Kristallnacht, about 10,000 children, 1938 to 1939. Themes: identity, mothers and daughters, separation, memory.
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