A fascinating, moving journey
I always find it exciting when theatre companies who are creating theatre which is (in their own words) “made by, with and for young people” decide to tackle difficult and sometimes sensitive topics.
Smoking Apples’ show Kinder cleverly employs many different kinds of puppets (designed by Hattie Thomas and Matt Lloyd), simple but effective projections and shadow play (Hattie Thomas), and a clever sound design (by George Bellamy) as well as skillful performers/puppeteers (Hattie Thomas, David Burchhardt, and Tea Poldervaart) to tell us the story of “one small Czech-Jewish girl embarking on a mighty adventure” as she escapes German-occupied Czechoslovakia at the beginning of WWII.
The Little Angel Studios (about a 5 min stroll from the main theatre space) has a pleasant ‘garden’ space where we were invited to wait until the house opened. At 5 minutes to show time we were told that (as all performances are relaxed) we were free to come and go as we pleased, and that the garden would serve as a chill out space if anyone needed to step away from the show. There were fidget toys, and ear defenders available on the door as well if anyone needed them.
As soon as the show began we were invited by a train conductor to ‘push the button’. In fact the show could not continue until someone did. This really set the tone for the interactive nature of the piece. Throughout the next hour audience members were invited to read stories, help bake cakes, and play minor roles in the narrative. We were all encouraged to be vocal and interact if we wished, but also reassured that sitting back and watching was allowed.
We can always expect beautiful and detailed puppetry work from Little Angel Theatre, and this show did not disappoint. The puppets were life-like, and believable throughout. The puppeteers (though entirely visible) faded into the background to allow their puppets to shine. Though the puppets expressions could not change, the skilled puppeteers managed to convey a whole array of emotions, and journey for each character. This was true whether it was a full puppet, a floating head and hand, or even just a pair of legs. The young Babi was a particularly lovely puppet who really captivated the younger audience.
Kinder begins in England with Babi and her grown up grandson on their way back to her ‘hometown’ of Prague for the first time in many years. The narrative soon takes us back to when Babi was a child in Czechoslovakia with her father, shortly before she became part of the Czech Kindertransport organized by Englishman Nicholas Winton (MBE). This real-life rescue mission brought 669 children (from Jewish families) from German-occupied Czechoslovakia to England on the eve of WWII.
The performance happened delightfully all around us. On her way to Margate, Babi met many different characters; a little playful schnauzer puppet ran through the crowd, his owner a gregarious German woman puppet showered us with bon bons (eagerly grabbed by children in the audience), a train guard appeared above our heads to demand Babi’s papers and then got distracted by cake.
The adventure is very much shown from Babi’s perspective. The world around her is adult sized; large and a bit scary. Several of the adults she interacts with as a child (large puppets and sometimes actors-in-role) are only legs, and feet with no head visible.
Another point to note is much of the show is in languages other than English. The versatile ensemble switched from Czech to German to Dutch to English. None of the text is captioned or translated. It did take a little time to settle into this element. Initially I worried I was missing story elements, especially in the early scenes where Babi’s father was preparing her for her journey and gifted her a book and a shoe (the significance of which I did not initially understand, but which was clarified later in the story). Even when Babi first arrives in Margate with her well-meaning host Margaret, the English is purposely distorted so it is slightly difficult to understand (even for an English speaking audience). As the tale progressed however, I began to enjoy the use of many different languages as a story-telling devise. It allowed the audience to experience how young Babi must have felt being pulled away from her home, and travelling across countries where no one spoke her native language. As time went on in the story the English language distortions disappeared to signify that Babi had learned English.
I did wonder if the long segments with no translation might lose the audiences’ interest but it appeared that just as I was able to follow the story without understanding every word spoken, so were the 5 or 6 children in the audience. They remained attentive throughout. As the story progressed children around me asked questions of their accompanying adults, called out what they saw, and seemed to really want to participate and understand. All great signs for this age group.
Smoking Apples’ show is recommended to 9+ year olds, although we had a wide range of ages. From (by my guess) 2 years olds to pensioners. The show managed to keep us all engaged. Even the two year old in front of me who woke up half way through seemed as enthralled as her sister (8 yrs old).
Recordings of interviews with adults who had been part of the Kindertransport as children were peppered throughout the show and were both informative and truly moving in parts. I noticed a few adults wipe away a tear. Towards the end when it became evident why perhaps Babi had never returned to Prague before, and why she found it so difficult to think about, one child behind me exclaimed “This is sad”. There is no doubt that the topics were big and may not be what some people expect to be discussed in a play for 9+ year olds, but in my view they are handled very sensitively and age appropriately, and the audience (of all ages) was really catered for, and brought along on this fascinating, moving journey.
Kinder runs from Aug 29-Sept 3 at Little Angel Theatre (Studio), and is touring this Autumn from Sep 12-Nov 11th. www.smokingapplestheatre.com
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Review by Claudia West