Concrete Playground

This play one that you are never quite sure you want to
watch until you do – and then you wonder how you could have considered
missing it. A sole
actor occupies the stage for one taut hour, conveying the story of a German
woman’s attempt to survive the occupation of Berlin post-WWII. What
makes it so frightening is that it’s a true story, written by an
anonymous woman who was only identified after her death. The
stage, however, is startling in itself: a pure white page, with a single line
of the protagonist’s diary scrawled across it. Against this bleak landscape,
Meredith Penman is uncomfortably honest in her role. It
is not a happy story, filled with loss, fear, confusion, rape and despair, but
the strength that Penman expresses encourages warmth and empathy on the
audience’s part. 

Image: Nick Bowers.