Ashes and Diamonds
Why is it so much easier to be a grandmother than a mother?
An elderly lady walks into a room full of her family: daughter, son, grandchildren. They evoke wistful memories and songs of love and playfulness, yet they take no notice of her as she moves among them. Memories overlap, sparkling and fading, merging into one: past overlapping with present. Memories of being strafed by Luftwaffe, storm-tossed boats, births, deaths, love, family. You don’t remember if it’s been fun, you just know it’s 11.15 and it’s been a life full of ashes and diamonds.
A one-woman play written by Gail Louw.
Directed by Anthony Shrubsall.
Performed by Elizabeth Counsell.
The family story behind the play:
Sara Tauba Klagsbrun, was born in Tarnow in Poland on 16 December 1920. Sara moved with her family to Antwerp when she was about 5 years old because of the antisemitism they were experiencing in Poland. She was told when she started at the local school that she would have to change her name to a less Jewish sounding one and from then on, she chose to be called Antoinette. She was known by most of her family and friends as Tosia.
In May 1940 aged 19, Sara fled from the Nazi invasion, escaping the Holocaust via a torturous route, much of it on foot. She ended up in the UK where she remained for the rest of her life. She lived in London and died in the flat she had been in for 70 years.
Ashes and Diamonds
by Gail Louw
5th – 16th May
White Bear Theatre
138 Kennington Park Road
London
SE11 4DJ
www.whitebeartheatre.co.uk
Tickets £16/£12. Early Bird offer £10 (available until 31st March)
Ticket QR Code:
