The week before Armistice Day seems a fitting time to be reminded of the suffering caused during times of conflict.
‘And Then They Came For Me’ is one of the most widely produced new plays, yet the performance on the 7th November 2010 at the Garrick Theatre had something special about it. It’s not often such an extraordinary true life story is told when its inspiration is sitting in the audience. The play is a unique multimedia experience which combined video taped interviews of Holocaust Survivors Ed Silverberg and Eva Schloss with live actors recreating scenes from their lives and experiences during World War II. Ed (Michael Gamarano) and Eva’s (Alexandra Vevers) story are tied together by the infamous Anne Frank. Ed was Anne Frank’s first boyfriend and Eva, who was the same age as Anne when she went into hiding and like Anne, she and her family were betrayed. In this story however, the young diary writer Anne plays a cameo role.
The harrowing tales of the promise of youth cut short by the horrors of the Holocaust see the story take us from the beginnings of the Hitler Youth, through oppression and escalating to the horrific recounting of their experiences in concentration camps. One thing is clear. Even though the war is over, the trauma of what happened is still with the survivors. Numbers are easy to deal with as they are separate to our emotions, but when you hear the harrowing story of just one person, trying to relate that experience to every single one of the millions who suffered becomes a difficult concept.
The charity chosen for the performance’s wasn’t a war related one, but the Pakistan Floods Appeal. Sadly, it’s easy to forget why, every year, we wear a poppy on our lapels and even sadder that it’s often referred to as ‘Poppy Day’ as though the nation has forgotten to remember Remembrance Day.
This particular performance included a special performance by Frost’s other Editor Catherine Balavage as Ed Silverberg’s Mother. If you get the chance to catch ‘And Then They Came For Me’, you should.