Orlando Fringe: Eleanore’s Story, Life After the War

Posted on by Thor

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.

Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany

Posted on by Thor

Eleanor Ramrath Garner wrote an award winning memoir about her youth, surviving WWII as an American trapped in Nazi Berlin. GLAM, Global Arts Management from Fullerton California presented the show at this years Orlando Fringe Festival. In the play, the young Ingrid Garner pays tribute to her grandmother by telling her story as a one person historical drama.

In 1939 her grandfather decided he would move his family from New Jersey to Germany to pursue a lucrative job offer. On the boat trip over, war breaks out in Europe. By the time they dock, it is to late to turn back. The family became trapped for seven years in Hitler’s Germany. The young girl tries to blend into the new society even wanting to join the Hitler Youth. When teachers find out she is American she is punished for no good reason.

The actress did an incredible job of making air raids terrifying and visceral. Photos of the actual basements and bunkers mad the scenes even more real. The most terrifying moments came when Russian soldiers swept through her neighborhood at night. She could her women screaming as they were raped. She woke up feeling herself being pulled down towards the foot of the bed. A man loomed over her pulling at her bed clothes. Her mom screamed entering the room and waving their American passports. The Russians held the documents upside down, confused and indifferent, but decided to move on to easier prey.

The play is dark, showing the worst of humanity in times of war, but in the end there is hope for survival and a chance to rebuild. This was the most powerful drama I saw at this years Fringe Festival. It was the show I recommended any time a friend would ask for my recommendations.