Dibley, Wilcox To Star In UK Tour Of KINDERTRANSPORT

Kindertransport will open at the Belgrade Theatre Coventry from Wednesday 23 October and will tour the UK until April 2014. This production is presented by Hall and Childs Ltd in association with The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry and Paul Tyrer and Jamie Clark for The Booking Office Ltd.

In Germany, in 1938, as the clouds of war thicken, a desperate mother forces her nine year old daughter Eva onto a train, sending her out of danger and into the arms of strangers. In England, decades later, a reluctant mother prepares for the departure of her grown-up daughter, Faith as she cuts the ties of childhood. Then a chance discovery opens an unhealed wound and a long-buried secret is revealed. The bittersweet experience of every parent as they try to teach their child to survive alone, unites these women across the decades.

In the nine months before the outbreak of World War II, the Kindertransport ferried nearly 10,000, mainly Jewish children from Germany and Austria to safety. Many would never see their parents again. This year marks the 75thanniversary of the Kindertransport.

Paula Wilcox will play Lil, Janet Dibley is Evelyn, Emma Deegan Helga, Paul Lancaster Ratcatcher, Gabrielle Dempsey Eva, Rosie Holden Faith. It is directed by Andrew Hall, with design by Juliet Shillingford, lighting by Matthew Eagland and music by Matthew Bugg.

Winner of the Verity Bargate and Meyer-Whitworth Awards, Kindertransport by Diane Samuels is a moving insight into the complex relationship between mothers and daughters. Since its London première in 1993 it has been seen worldwide and is now on many school curricula. It is published by Nick Hern Books. Diane Samuels has written 'The A-Z of Mrs P' a new musical about Phyllis Pearsall, the creator of the London A-Z, which will be at the Southwark Playhouse in February 2014.

Paula Wilcox's recent TV roles have been in both BBC series of 'The Smoking Room' with Robert Webb and BBCs 'Rock and Chips' with Nicholas Lyndhurst and Phil Daniels. Her numerous West End stage roles include as Madam Dindon in 'La Cage Aux Folles' and as Miss Havisham in 'Great Expectations'. She was in Woody Allen's film'Scoop' with Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson. Janet Dibley is most known for her roles in BBC's 'Doctors', 'EastEnders' and 'The Two of Us'. She has appeared at The National Theatre, Crucible Sheffield and Manchester Royal Exchange. Andrew Hall has directed the recent UK tour of Alan Ayckbourn's 'Haunting Julia' also Matthew Kelly and Tracey Childs in 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf' at the Trafalgar Studios.