PROJECT: Evacuee Play Trove
FUNDER: Heritage Lottery Fund
DATES: 2013
In 1939 London’s culture of street play was abruptly interrupted by the prospect of Nazi bombing raids, when around 400,000 children were evacuated to new lives in rural Britain. What impact did this have on the way they played – during the war and once they had returned home? This project captured the memories of evacuees and brought them to life for a new generation using theatre and film. The play trove archive is here or dig in to the blog posts below.
19 OCTOBER: Well yesterday was the project finale and what an event it was! Deep beneath the corridors of power in Churchill's wartime nerve centre, the Cabinet War Rooms provided a suitably atmospheric setting for the premiere of the film and celebration event to mark the end of the project.
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17 July: It's been confirmed that the end of project event will be on Friday 18 October at the Churchill War Rooms! What a fitting venue - Churchill’s wartime bunker is a fascinating piece of living history; an underground maze of rooms that once buzzed with round-the-clock planning and plotting, strategies and secrets.
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First month and launch of London Play’s Evacuee Play Trove project! Tomorrow I’m meeting with our partners, Museum of London and the Half Moon theatre. I’m very excited about the prospect of interviewing 30 former evacuees. Listening to their fascinating stories bring to life their experiences during the evacuation and their war time play experience.
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