Edinburgh Fringe 2013

The Tin Ring

Human Remain

Genre: Drama

Venue: Summerhall

Festival: Edinburgh Fringe

Low Down

Review

Zdenka Fantlova is 91, she’s a holocaust survivor and she says that after Bergen-Belsen life is ‘a piece of cake’.

Director, Mike Alfreds has teamed up with performer, Jane Arnfield to tell Zdenka’s story. The Tin Ring is a powerful piece of storytelling, dignified and simple with a profoundity that pierces the soul.

Zdenka is one of very few Holocaust survivors still alive today. When the war started she was 17 and living in a small town in Czechoslovakia. Gradually as a Jew various things began to impinge upon her life – curfews, the notorious yellow star. She took them all in her stride; after all, she was 18 and in love. She had met a boy, a refugee from Germany, Arno, and the two were madly in love. But in early 1940, the rumours began, and then the transportations. Zdenka and her family, and Arno and his, were transported to the concentration camp at Terezin. Initially Zdenka and Arno were in the same camp. At great risk to their lives, they managed to meet in the camp, and as a symbol of their love he gave her the tin ring, which incredibly she managed to keep until the end of the war. That day, Arno was sent East and she never saw him again. Zdenka went into the camp as one of 1,000 people; at the end of the war, 17 survived.

Fifty years later, Zdenka went back to Czechoslovakia and was inspired to write her book. Some years later, Jane came across the book, reading it in one sitting long into the night. Jane asked Zdenka if she would allow her to adapt the Tin Ring for the stage. Zdenka generously said “Yes! Why not? I don’t know how you will do it but have a go.” And so, the Tin Ring was born.

This is the first time that Mike Alfreds has directed a solo performance. He and Jane devised this show through a rigorous and reflective process, reshaping the original text, and working out how the story might be passed from Jane to the audience.

Mike Alfreds and Jane Arnfield have devised a performance that is simple and straightforward; there is nothing to distract from the storytelling. On the stage there is one woman and a chair. There is no music, no other props. The lighting is one state and doesn’t change throughout the performance. Jane Arnfield can see the audience throughout, allowing her to tell her story and interact directly with the audience. Jane Arnfield is an extraordinary performer: this is an understated performance that is honest and direct and delivered with absolute integrity. Jane doesn’t play a part in a play, she doesn’t impersonate Zdenka; she passes on the truth of the story to the audience.

I was lucky enough not only to see the play, but to go to a talk with Zdenka Fantlova, Jane Arnfield and Mike Alfreds early in the play’s run. Zdenka is an inspiring woman; even to be in the same room with her was both humbling and a privilege. Her story is one of love and hope, and the strength of the human spirit. rather than of defeat.

Zdenka is determined to share her testimony and ensure that others understand and learn from it. Watching her, it was plain that she was happy to have entrusted the passing on of her story to Jane and Mike, and she was right to do so – they have created something utterly truthful, with resilience and strength at its core. 

Published August 7, 2013 by Clare Simpson