Ingrid Garner, the adapter, and performer of Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany, answered some quick questions for @SeeItOrSkipItLA!
1.Was this a story that you grew up hearing, or did you first discover it by reading your grandmother’s autobiography?
A: I grew up knowing that my Grandmother had been a survivor of WWII as a child and I had been made aware by my family that her connection to the war was a unusual and miraculous story. I didn’t understand to what extent until my mother began reading the book to me around age 10. I remember being deeply fascinated and sometimes disturbed by the stories, but most of all, I couldn’t believe how the little girl in this book could have possibly grown up to be the loving, happy, magical person I called “Grandma”. This girl was my age and going through the very same landmark experiences I was, but the backdrop of her life was a world war.
While I was feeling pressured to join Girl Scouts, she was feeling pressured to join Hitler Youth. When I was figuring out how tampons work, she was forced to use ripped up old towels, sanitary napkins hadn’t been available for years. My parents fought to find food I wouldn’t turn up my nose at, her parents had to admit there was no food when she begged for it. In high school, when I was struggling to express my identity and find my voice, she was an American alien in Berlin, struggling to be inconspicuous and knowing one wrong word could mean the death of her family. While I was finding excuses to stay up late, she was trying to find time to sleep in between 17 nighttime air-raid alarms in a row. When I was desperately looking for friends, she watched hers die in the street.
2.This is definitely a unique WWII story. When did it first occur to you to make it into a play?
A: The idea to make “Eleanor’s Story” into a play was suggested to me by my now Producer, Richard Maritzer, when I was running tech on his show at the Winnipeg Fringe in Canada. I was one month away from starting the final year of my college education as a Theater Arts Major at California State University, Fullerton. I was becoming worried, as many of my young peers do, about the uncertain reality of the entertainment world and how I might find a place in it.
But when the Fringe concept was introduced to me, I thought, “This is unfathomable! I can create something to suit my specific strengths or challenge me artistically, I can work on it with people I know and trust, then I can be so generously provided with a platform practically anywhere in the world to perform it and the ability to reach a wealth of audiences willing to try something new!” The Fringe Festivals allow you to self-produce, that means you get full creative control to put on stage exactly what you want and get immediate feedback from the public. I love storytelling, I just need a story to tell.
Richard pointed out that I had a pretty impressive connection to one of the most epic stories either of us had heard: Eleanor’s. Not only is the dramatic nature of the story well suited for theatrical interpretation, but it would be a spectacular novelty to have the actual granddaughter play her grandmother and relatives.
3.What about your show makes it perfect for the Fringe?
A: I think the unique quality of a Fringe show is the, often very intimate, relationship between the artist and their creation. This can make the triumph of a good review feel super affirmative and the rejection of a bad review feel more personal. My show is personal, obviously because of my connection to the story, but also because I had control over every aspect of the production. I also had a wonderful collaboration with the my Director, Craig Tyrl, his beautiful work is very present in the piece. Together, we created a highly visual experience. The play is far from a recitation of the events, it’s a physical enactment and it’s all me.
It’s a One-Woman-Show, a definite trope of Fringe Festivals. Being the only actor allows you to save on costs, but as an artist it is a fun challenge to star in your own show as well as play all the supporting roles. A lot of Fringe shows are courteously short, this play is one hour and covers all seven years, so I don’t have time for costume changes. I rely exclusively on physicality and vocality to create 10 distinct characters.
Most of all, I feel a Fringe show’s most interesting attributes are the creative ways artists work around certain disadvantages. Being self-produced, many Fringe artists work on a low-budget.Traveling Fringe shows, like mine, have to be portable. I can’t have big sets to show wear I am. The show’s producer Richard Maritzer, who was also the video and sound designer, created a solution: a rear projection screen on which we show actual photos and footage of the people, places, and things that my grandmother encountered. We also use a great deal of sound to make up for lack of visual signals. My only other set pieces are a trunk and two chairs, but we were surprised how many different structures we could create with them. A bomb shelter, a crib, a body.
4.What do you hope the audience walks away with after your show?
A: I hope my audiences feel inspired to inquire with their own parents and grandparents about their experience of war. Many people fall silent after a war, it’s completely understandable. It took my Grandmother 60 years to share her story, but when she did, it healed her, and it was a great boon to her readership and the rest of us. This is a story about how citizens, especially innocent children, are affected by war. It’s universally relevant to every war, and it’s the point-of-view we hear the least from. Each memory a survivor shares puts a human face on the horrors of war and allows us to see that these were people, not numbers.
5.What show, other than yours, are you most excited to see at the Fringe?
A: I am very interested to see “My Sister” which is a two-woman show (starring identical twins Emily and Elizabeth Hinkler) set in pre-war Berlin. The play centers around the relationship of Magda, a Cabaret performer, and Matilde, her writer, who also has Cerebral Palsy. They are at the Underground Upton Theatre and are playing June 4-27.
Intrigued? You can see Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany on these days:
Theatre of Note
Saturday, June 6 at 7:00pm
Sunday, June 7 at 4:00pm
Sunday, June 14 at 4:00pm
Sunday, June 21 at 4:00pm
Saturday, June 27 at 7:00pm
For more information or to connect:
Facebook – Eleanor’s Story
www.eleanorsstory.com
For ticketing click here.
*As a special thank-you to all Fringers following my coverage, please enjoy 15% off purchases at In Heels Productions throughout the month of June. Use code HFF15 at checkout!