Publisher Description

•A play about history, identity and migration.•Originally produced by Visible Ensemble Theatre Company, who explore the issues that affect older people in the UK.A kaleidoscope of stories about war, displacement, revolution and liberation taking us on an emotional journey across three continents. Based on the actors' personal and family experiences, the stories interweave and overlap, exploring moments of joy, sadness and laughter set against key historical events over the last hundred years. Poignant, moving, funny, inspiring, this is the first piece of work created by the Visible, a new ensemble, dedicated to putting older performers and their rich lives centre stage.

Author Biography

Born in London to German refugee parents, Sonja is a theatre producer and writer whose plays have been produced on radio and on stage throughout the UK and the United States. She is the founding artistic director of Visible Theatre Ensemble, having previously founded iceandfire theatre , a company that explores human rights through performance (nominated for a Liberty award in 2010).Sonja's plays for iceandfire include: On A Clear Day You Can See Dover (Wilton's Music Hall, Crucible Theatre, Sheffield and UK national tour), Welcome to Ramallah, co-written with Adah Kay, and its companion piece, Palestine Monologues, (Arcola Theatre, York Theatre Royal, Compass Theatre, San Diego); Crocodile Seeking Refuge (Lyric Hammersmith, UK national tour), Asylum Dialogues (Tricycle Theatre and UK national tour), I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda (Finborough Theatre, UK and USA tours, BBC World Service Radio), and Asylum Monologues (UK national tour). Previous work includes: The Strange Passenger (Paines Plough, Battersea Arts Centre and UK National Tour); The Jewish Daughter, sequel to Brecht's The Jewish Wife (New End Theatre); Call Me Judas (Paines Plough, Finborough Theatre) and Present Continuous (Edinburgh Festival, Fringe First, BBC Radio 4).

Table of Contents

Scene ListPROLOGUEPART 1.Mostly though not entirely around the time of the First World War1. SKYPE. Banbury/Tokyo 2014.2. QUESTION. Ikaria 2014.3. IT'S 1914 AND...4. DISPATCHED. Vienna 1914.5. FAREWELLS. Ikaria 1914.6. DEPARTURE. Winnipeg 1915.7. MUD AND DEATH. The Western Front 1916.8. CAPTIVITY. Siberia 1918.9. RETURN. Winnipeg 1918.10. ESCAPE. Siberia 1918.11. DUST TO DUST. Winnipeg 1918.12. TRANS-SIBERIAN EXPRESS. Chita Station 1918.13. BROKEN-HEARTED. Vienna 1918.14. HOMECOMING Teheran, 1918.15. HOMECOMING. Vienna 1920.16. BANISHED. Winnipeg, 1920.17. CSARDAS. Transylvania. 1919/1970.PART 2.Mostly around the time of the Second World War18. BIRTHDAY GIRL. London 2014/Warsaw, 1939.19. BIRTHDAY GIRL. Rajkot, India 1939.20. THE KNOCK ON THE DOOR. Vienna 1939.21. RE-LOCATION. Warsaw/Simla 1940.22. RE-LOCATION. London 1940.23. GOODBYE PARENTS. Warsaw 1943.24. GOODBYE PARENTS. Himalayas, India 1943.25. GOODBYE BOMBAY? Bombay 1945.PART 3.Mostly though not entirely in 1950s26. RABBITS. Tokyo 1952.27. SOAP-BOX EVE. Colindale 1956.28. DISGRACE. Tokyo/London 1950s.29. LOVE AND WAR Transylvania 1950s.30. SKYPE 2. London/Tokyo 2014/1945.INTERVALPART 4:Revolutionary times: the 1960s, 70s, and 80s31. IF YOU REMEMBER IT, YOU WEREN'T THERE. 1960s.32. WHERE IS ANNA LAGANA? Italy 1969.33. THE BRITISH ROAD TO SOCIALISM. Merseyside Docks 1960s.34. KOMMUNIZMUS. England/Bucharest 1960s, 70s.35. THE DRAFT. New York 1972.36. FLIGHT 1978.37. THE BIRTHDAY SPEECH. Romania 1989.PART 5:"Ripeness is all" Mostly the 21st Century.38. ENDGAME: Wiener Library, London 2006.39. ENDGAME: Singapore, 1993.40. LEAR IN VIETNAM Ho Chi Minh City 2012.41. All RIGHT, DEAR? Royal Free Hospital, London 2014.EPILOGUE

Review

"You made age beautiful and something to value and celebrate. This play is of huge value and relevance to people of all ages." Bruce Nixon, Writer, National Theatre Studio

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