Ingrid Garner is such a dynamic force as a story teller. Actually she is more than a storyteller, she is a cast of thousands.
Eleanore’s Story: Life After the War follows a show I got to experience and sketch back in 2018. In that show we followed the life of an American family who were stuck in Germany as World War II broke out because one member could not return to America.
In this sequel we got to feel the relief as the family prepared to get out of the largely leveled Berlin which had been carpet bombed into oblivion. Somehow every member of the family had survived.
However the United States would not pay for Eleanore’s mom to return. The family agonized but her mom insisted they go and she would find a way out later.
The steamer trunk was packed and the family left with mom still in Berlin. The view of the statue of Liberty brought tears to the eyes of every one. Americans were so different that the Germans they left behind. They were well fed and moved with drive an purpose.
In the American high school the bell announcing the change of classes reminded the young girl of bomb warning sirens. Flashbacks happened in quick succession. I might have drawn Ingrid in a quiet moment as she face the audience but se was in constant motion, reenacting every horror and joy. A kiss from an American boy brought back a memory of Soviet soldiers kicking in the front door and making themselves at home. Every woman knew what would happen. Eleanore tried to avoid the possibility by looking sickly. Her mother on the other hand, took pride in her beauty. When the inevitable moment came her mother shouted that they were all Americans. Amazingly the threat of raping American allies, diffused the situation.
The show is based on a published memoir by her grandmother. I really want to read it now to learn more.