quote analysis-lou

Quote	Technique	Analysis
“You’re quite capable of choosing a place to live without my help”	Mirroring	This quote mirrors Helga- when she says the same thing to Eva.
(Evelyn continues to polish)	Stage direction	The polishing could be a metaphor- constantly cleaning to wash away her bad past, or to clear her guilty consciousness.
“Are you intending to change your mind again”		Evelyn is completely ignoring her daughter’s feelings- portrayal of selfish act.
“You’ve made a mess haven’t you?”	Ambiguity	Possibly ambiguous- literally –messy room , or not literal- bought up the past and made things messy.
“Choose something else”		Doesn’t want to read the ratcatcher because it brings back memories for her- hides suffering for the sake of her daughter.
“3362, Sir”	Short	Dehumanised- seen as a number or code rather than a human being.
“Did it belong to the little Jewish girl you had staying with you during the war?”	Secrets	Faith doesn’t realise that the little Jewish girl was her mum- doesn’t realise she was part of the Kindertransport.
“I’ll bloody kill you first!”	Language	Lil defending Eva- shows how much Faith has upset her mother but also how Lil still sees her daughter as her little girl.

AO4 key points on Diane Samuels - George

Diane Samuels was born in Liverpool in 1960. She was raised in the Jewish community of Childwall, Liverpool and went to Jewish schools in Liverpool from nursery to age 18. She left home in 1979 to go to her first non-Jewish school/university, Sussex College and studied history.  She worked as a drama teacher in inner London secondary schools and then as an education officer at the Unicorn Theatre for children before becoming a full time writer in 1992. She became a tutor playwriting for young people as part of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket's Master class scheme, has lectured part-time at Middlesex University, Oxford University, Goldsmiths’ College, London and Birmingham University on writing and drama. She has also worked as a writer-in-residence at Hugh Myddelton Primary school in Islington, north London, and now run a regular group for writers of all levels, one off workshops on a variety of themes, as well as writing children’s book reviews for The Guardian. Currently she is a participator in Exiled Writers INK’s writing and dialogue group “Across the Divide” for Jewish, Muslim, Israeli and Palestinian writers. 

Diane Samuels has a clear interest in children and teaching which is clearly shown through what she had devoted and dedicated most of her life to so far. She also grew up with a very strong Jewish background. She was born and raised in a Jewish area of Liverpool, went to only all Jewish schools until the age of 18 and only until then did she leave to go to a non-Jewish university. Also she worked in and ran many Jewish theatres and dramas in her Jewish community and helped to teach the Jewish youths how to write plays and perform in the workshops that she provided for them around the local area. In an interview about her feelings when returning to her primary school in Liverpool she states that, “Liverpool always feels like a warm nest when I return, but birds need to spread their wings and wider horizons beckon.”  She also goes on to explain that, “In the 1960s there were a couple of non-Jews in my class, but probably about 90 per cent of the school was made up of Jewish children; Now 25 per cent are Jewish. This open approach may be born of necessity in a dwindling community, now only 2,000 strong (there were around 7000 Jews in Liverpool when I was a child), but, in contrast to many other Jewish schools in the country, it is inclusive. And in this resides a particular kind of vitality.” However she ends this statement with the use of a rhetorical question, “Hebrew has general modern language status here now. Maybe Liverpool culture is to thank for this a bit. Who isn’t from an immigrant background of some sort in this city?”

In an interview she explains that her breakthrough moment was when the first production of “Kindertransport” directed by Abigail Morris for Soho Theatre Company aired at the Cockpit Theatre in 1993. Diane was 33 when it first aired. The production was moving and true to the play. The reviews were very good and people queued around the block for every performance for returns. It was very exciting.     

Despite her successes in her life being a writer/playwright is not always fun. She explains herself that the loneliness sometimes and the lack of daily support by others can have some negative effects on a person but the solitariness, the autonomy and the opportunity to spend her days creating other worlds and whole characters created positive bursts of energy that helps her get through the days and live her life and mind to its full potential.

views about Secrets,Evelyn and Music

hey this is DIIIIVVVYAAAA
THIS IS WHAT I THINK SOO FAR :
-Music : The music is associated with the ratcatcher. The ratcatcher is a fear and it becomes stronger each type Evelyn tries to repress her past. He controls or releases memories to induce fear. The ratcatcher music symbolies fear as it shows that the Ratcatcher will embody the lie that Evelyn has decided to hide from Faith.
Evelyn-Evelyn is an over protective mother and very "proper." She wants everything neat and tidy and wants to control everything.Evely has a deep seated fear and guilt from the past. She has a guilt for leaving her parents in suffering during the Nazi Horrors. There is a sense of loss of identity as she is lost when she introduces her culture to faith and does not know much about it herself but still holds on to it. She doesnt like arguing to Faith because she always neglects the "talk" that they have just like her lie-I would say shes very fragile from inside.
I also wanted to talk about stage directions and the Time frame :
Samuels uses stage direction in order to represent the separation between lil and Eva.
The use of juxtaposition between the different time frames shows a continual detachment between lil and Evelyn.
Secrets- Hidden truths has lead to a moment where relationships are at stake. The fact that such an important element has been hid away from Faith has lead the hidden truth to come out- The chest or the old box that faith opens is like a genie...unreavlling truths

THANK YOU XXX

Manisha Das !!

Theme: Repression
Character: Ratcatcher
Technique: Doubling language

I haven't really spoken about Doubling Language yet:

Repression is a key theme throughout the play Kindertransport and Diane Samuels uses the Ratcatcher as a symbol of portraying the restraint thus the anxiety felt by Eva/Evelyn whenever the Ratcatcher or a form of authority is present.

The male figures; Nazi border official, the English organiser, the postman and the station guard are all types of certain authority, and are also played by the Ratcatcher. It is interesting as to why the Ratcatcher is given these specific roles, this is because the Ratcatcher is the embodiment of fear and is always present when Eva/Evelyn feels uneasy or anxious.  Similarly, it is important to regard the roles of the other male figures within the play, for instance when Faith declares how she feels about her mother, Evelyn, on page 44: “FAITH. You can’t go on a train without hyper-ventilating. You cross the road if you see a policeman or traffic warden.”  This quotation perfectly demonstrates how anxiety fuels Evelyn and the way she leads her life through the constant male authority. “without hyper-ventilating” this exaggeration that Faith uses represents both the typical thoughts of an offspring towards their parent, but it represents the way Faith views her mother as someone who is fragile and quite sensitive, thus subverting the generic roles of a mother-daughter relationship, causing Faith to be the “worrying” figure.

The point in which both Eva/Evelyn are talking to one another; as though they are mirroring each other’s inner thought is a poignant part of the play, highlighting how firstly, the Eva is somewhat “within” Evelyn, and with Evelyn’s constantly condemning her inner thoughts and feelings, as she constantly uses terms such as “Be quiet”, highlighting the theme of repression perfectly. This is shown on page 45, “EVA. His eyes are sharp as knives. EVELYN. Be quiet”  Eva demonstrates how the Ratcatcher, which she could be describing is tormenting  her. The simile describing the eyes highlights physical violence of the “knives”  and could implicitly indicate the Nazism and how the Nazis’ view and society led to the physical violence and slaughtering of Jews.

 Stage direction: “Pipemusic. The shadow of the RATCATCHER looms” this stage direction highlights to readers/audiences that whenever there is conflict or a sense of “truth” about Eva/Evelyn to be spilt, the Ratcatcher, the one feature which was always present with Eva will come out. Again, the Ratcatcher is the symbol of repression and fear, as Eva and readers were first introduced to him at the beginning of the play, foreshadowing his ever-lasting curse, if you will, upon Eva. On page 15, “EVA. You said I could chose...I don’t want anything else” whilst Eva is speaking to her biological mother, Helga, about what book to read, Eva persists on “Der Rattenfänger”, perhaps highlighting that Eva, saying “I don’t want anything else” how the Ratcatcher always had a hold over her, like the Nazis’ manipulated and dictated the Jews.

HEY

LOL i guess its good enough that i've actually signed in! no one else has...apart from Louise, because we're cool like dat!

you make me sound like a loser :( whoever this is :O

kindertransport analysis- louise

My three words are:
- Offstage
- Helga
- Mothers

The three words go together quite well, as the main theme portrayed throughout the play is the relationship between mothers and daughters. Helga's relationship with Eva is linked to that of Faith  and Evelyn. The relationship between Helga and Eva carries on even when they are both offstage. Helga is only in the play for a short amount of time, as the play is based on Evelyn's transformation into Eva, and Faith trying to find out the truth from her Mother. Lil, who takes Evelyn in, often has conversations with her about Helga (her Mother) to help her express her feelings about the situation. Even when Helga is offstage, pretty much all of the characters make reference to her, because of the impact she has had on Eva's life. As mentioned before, Helga's relationship with Eva is closely linked between Evelyn and Faith. The mother/daughter relationship they have is similar but different in many ways. When Faith brings up the past, Evelyn portrays symptoms of OCD- she cleans everytime it's mentioned, to avoid talking about it. Independence and being able to manage without the person you depend on most in your life is a main theme which runs through the entire play, and it starts off with Eva struggling to sew, and Helga insisting she needs to do it herself. She indirectly says that she won't always be around to help Eva, and so she needs to learn. This links to Faith and Evelyn's story, because the two mother's are trying to do what's best for their children, but we see that Evelyn doesn't really want Faith to go- she wants her to stay with her so she can look after her. The two mother's are different but similar at the same time, in the sense they both want whats right for their children, but worry for them at the same time. Lil is seen as a 'hero' in the play, because she took Eva in when she was most vulnerable. In the middle of Act two, Scene one, Evelyn seems to appear ungrateful for what Lil has done for her. At this point, she reminices waiting for Helga at the train station, but Helga not coming, and Lil convincing Eva that she's not coming. At the end of the play, there is a sweet moment between Faith and Evelyn, in which Evelyn explains to Faith how much she means to her.