Overview

Four country children waiting in the rain for the school bus take turns telling stories. In an unusual twist, Anna's story takes the children to Nazi Germany and an intriguing tale about Heidi, a young girl caught in the turmoil of World War II, whose father was one of the most dreaded men in history. One of the children, Mark, becomes engrossed in Heidi's story. In his conversations with his friends, his teacher and with his parents, he explores the moral and ethical issues it raises. This intriguing play poses powerful questions about a frightening period in history and forces us to examine moral issues in relation to society's fears and prejudices in a fresh, compelling light.

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9780868198132

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EVA DI CESARE graduated from Victorian College of the Arts in 1989 and is one of the founding members of Monkey Baa Theatre Company. She directed Jackie French and Bruce Whatley's Diary of a Wombat, which won the Glug Award for Outstanding Presentation for Children. Cesare also wrote and directed Where the Streets Had a Name, based on the novel by Randa Abdel-Fattah. She has co-adapted Sydney Theatre Award winning play Li Cunxin's The Peasant Prince, Helpmann award winning plays Jackie French's Hitler's Daughter and Sonya Hartnett's Thursday's Child, Tim Winton's The Bugalugs Bum Thief, Morris Gleitzman's Worry Warts, Gillian Rubinstein's The Fairy's Wings, Stephen Michael King's Milli, Jack and the Dancing Cat, Susanne Gervay's I Am Jack, Elizabeth Fensham's Goodbye Jamie Boyd, Duncan Ball's Emily Eyefinger, and Jackie French and Bruce Whatley's Pete the Sheep and Josephine Wants to Dance. She also co-wrote and directed the 2013 Opera House show Babies Proms Series and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (with Sandra Eldridge) for CDP Theatre Producers and Simon Tedeschi Pianist and Prankster for Monkey Baa. In 2017 Cesare was awarded a Sydney Theatre Award for 20 years of excellence and extraordinary service to the children and young people of Australia. SANDRA ELDRIDGE is a WAAPA acting graduate and has a Master of Arts (Practice) for directing CSU. She is one of the founders and Creative Directors of Monkey Baa, where she directs, writes, acts and facilitates workshops around Australia and overseas. Monkey Baa has adapted over 18 works for the stage. Her credits as a director with Monkey Baa: Goodbye Jamie Boyd, The Prospectors, I am Jack, Hitler's Daughter (2007 Helpmann Award for Best Children's Presentation, 2006 Drover Award, 2012 Glug Award) and Thursday's Child (2009 Helpmann Award for Best Children's Presentation). Other directing credits include: The Grapes of Wrath and Mill on the Floss for WAAPA; Kindertransport and Maggie Stone for Darlinghurst Theatre Company. She co-wrote and directed Voyage to the Deep for the Australian national Maritime Museum and Monkey Tales for the Chinese Gardens, and co-adapted Snugglepot and Cuddlepie for CDP Theatre Productions. She wrote and acted in The Unknown Soldier (2015 Glug Award), which toured NSW and the US in 2017. As an actor she has numerous credits in theatre, film, TV and radio and has been a proud member of MEAA since 1983. In 2017 the Sydney Theatre Awards granted her a special award for excellence and Extraordinary Service to the young people of Australia. TIM MCGARRY, a WAAPA Graduate, works as an actor, director, dramaturge and devising theatre maker in Sydney. Between 2005-2017 Tim was a Co-Creative Director and Producer at Monkey Baa Theatre Company, one of Australia's largest touring companies for young audiences, where he co adapted and produced nearly 20 new Australian works. He directed the award winning The Peasant Prince, assistant directed on Tim Winton's The Bugalugs Bum Thief and was the remount director on The Unknown Soldier, a new Australian play written by Sandra Eldridge. He was dramaturgical consultant on Randa Abdel-Fattah's Where the Streets Had a Name. In 2013 McGarry was engaged by CDP Producers to write and direct several works for the SOH Baby Proms Program including Swing Baby Swing and The Nutcracker. He co-devised The Pirate Ship (script) for Urban Myth Theatre Company SA, A More Fortunate Life for Theatre Ink and EscapAIDS for the One Night Stand Theatre Company. Most recently he co-devised a new work for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra with Simon Tedeschi and Eva Di Cesare called Who Needs A Conductor Anyway. A proud member of Actor's Equity, McGarry is passionate about interrogating, developing and devising new Australian work. In 2017 McGarry was awarded a Sydney Theatre Award for 20 years of excellence and extraordinary service to the children and young people of Australia. JACKIE FRENCH AM is an Australian author, historian, ecologist and 2014-2015 Australian Children' Laureate and 2015 Senior Australian of the Year. French's books have sold millions of copies and won over 60 awards in Australia and internationally. French's writing career spans 25 years, 148 wombats, over 140 books, 36 languages, 3,721 bush rats, and over 60 awards in Australia and overseas. Hitler's Daughter spent a decade on most of Australia's kid's choice award shortlists; among other awards it won the 2000 CBC Book of the Year for Younger Readers, the UK Wow! Award, a Semi Grand Prix Award in Japan and has been listed as a blue ribbon' book in the USA. Monkey Baa's production of Jackie French's Hitler's Daughter: the play won both the Helpmann and Drover's Awards and toured the USA in 2013. Diary of a Wombat, created with Bruce Whatley, is also one of Australia's best-loved picture books. It has been on bestseller lists across the world, with a still increasing number of awards and translations. French's vast body of work contains both fictional and non-fictional accounts of the last 60,000 years of Australian history, with books like Nanberry: black brother white; The Girl from Snowy River, Tom Appleby: Convict Boy; The Night They Stormed Eureka; A Day to Remember created with Mark Wilson; and Flood, created with Bruce Whatley. Her non-fiction also includes an eight volume history of Australia for young people (The Dinkum History series). 

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