By Charles Bedford, Grade 12 Parent and HKA Board Member
HKA Theatre Teacher Darren Scully’s scholastic production of Kindertransport by the playwright Diane Samuels must be seen as a capstone achievement in a storied career. At HKA’s spectacular theatre this week, Scully has marshalled prodigious talent in acting, set design, music, visuals and production to pull off a stunning adaptation of Samuel’s painful and poignant recounting of mother daughter relationships set against the stark historical backdrop of the rescue of Jewish children from Nazi Germany.
First, HKA’s theatre is built-for-purpose for this intimate play. The sound, lighting, and set place the audience in the middle of the action. Innovative projection panels host haunting images of war and animation. Sound effects and lighting turn the whole room into a train station and then back to an intimate and well-lit quiet attic. The music drives the action like a great rock and roll drummer—never overpowering but clearly setting the pace. Scully’s small team pulls off incredible creativity with immaculate execution. These production values deserve a two year run, not just two days. This is a team that is going places.
Samuel’s script comes alive in the hands of an ensemble cast comprised of seven IB Diploma Theatre students, six women and one man, as they explore the nuances of families under tectonic strains trying to remain true to themselves but always knowing that their choices were going to end poorly, no matter what. Across three generations, skipping across the decades and using multiple versions of the characters, the cast mashes up time and destiny to bring the audience into each of the rich and rough moments of these women’s lives.
Alex M. plays the young Eva, on the eve of departure out of Germany, a confused and scared 9 year old that will never reconcile what has happened to her. Eva is the victim of the play’s original sin, for which all will pay a terrible psychic price. Alex captures the innocence and fear of a child abandoned and then found, torn between countries, languages and families and forced to make choices that no child should have to make. The sin, while all the more painful for being committed by fear of the coming Nazi rise, rests squarely on the shoulders of Eva’s well-off mother, Helga, played with patrician elegance by Carter B. Helga commits the sin and then pays for it with years in the concentration camp, watching her husband walk into the gas chambers and ultimately by trading the love of her daughter for the life of her daughter. Carter shows a mother’s single-minded determination to push Eva into caring for herself and delivering her into safe hands. And her trauma prevents her from understanding what she has done 8 years later when she asks a different child to rejoin her.
Eva/Evelyn’s impossible choice is dissected by the brilliant performances of Elle S. and Emily L. as the teenager and mother. They lay out in detail the wrenching decision of a 17 year old (coincidentally, the age of all the cast members) to stay with the only mother she can really remember, rejecting the faint memory and Helga’s terrible story. The choice shows on Emily’s and Elle’s faces and hands and voices as a reflection of their torn souls. And the attempt to bury the shards of her soul in a tin in the attic finally comes out to damage another generation as Sonja L.’s bewildered, rebellious and angry Faith, Evelyn’s daughter, discovers that her mother is not who she thinks she is. Sonya’s Faith pushes for accountability and hints at reconciliation, but ultimately leaves us unsatisfied and unresolved with the dilemma of choices.
The play is punctuated and geo-located by the meter provided by Ben S., playing a variety of German and UK officialdom with a kinetic, kind and comic energy. It’s a welcome relief from the spitfire and unsettling dialogues that harken back to Burton and Taylor’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Jasmine C., playing two versions of Eva’s adopted English mother, Lil Miller, is one of the true surprises of the evening, transforming herself with a few small movements every time she crossed the mid-line of the stage from a young hostess of the refugee eager to play her role in the life of this lost child, into the grandmother who wonders how things could have gone so wrong despite all of her love. Jasmine’s subtle deployment of physical theatre cues up the audience more than a spotlight can achieve.
Kindertransport is hard work for a cast and crew, but Scully’s small troupe has pulled off something truly special in a corner of Hong Kong that is increasingly known for its creativity. This production is not for the faint of heart, and will gnaw at the conscience, making us search back for decisions that could have been better, and for remedies to save our future. Helga, Eva and Lil played their lives out the best they could, but still paid deeply for the consequences of their choices.
This event was held under Hong Kong Academy’s ‘Temporary Place of Public Entertainment Licence’. In accordance with the Government’s Cap 599F and Cap 599G, all performers have undergone double swab Covid-19 testing and submitted negative test results within the past few days in order to perform mask free.
Day 2: Half the class come in for 1 hour 30 minutes 8am – 9:30am with the other half from 10am – 11:30am. There will be an 8:00am and 11:30am bus available.
Day 3: Half the class come in for 1 hour 30 minutes 8am – 9:30am, with the other half from 10:30am – 12noon. There will be an 8:00am and 12:00pm bus available.
Day 4: All students in, 8am – 10:30am. Arrival and Dismissal bus available.
Day 5: All students in, 8:00 – 10:30am. Arrival and Dismissal bus available.
For children applying to Grade 2 and up, current grade level will also be a factor in grade placement decisions in addition to age.
Kindergarten
Day 1: First Day of School 8am – 12noon. Students will have scheduled group sessions of 30 minutes with the teachers and parents (3 students in a group). No bus available.
Day 2: Half the class in school morning and other half in an afternoon session without parents. 8am and 3pm bus available.
Day 3: All students attend half-day 8am – 12noon (including eating snack in the classroom). Arrival and Dismissal bus available.
Day 4: All students attend half-day 8am – 12noon (including lunch at school). Arrival and Dismissal bus available.
Day 5: All students attend half-day 8am – 12noon (including lunch at school). Arrival and Dismissal bus available.
Grade Level Equivalencies
For children applying to Grade 2 and up, current grade level will also be a factor in grade placement decisions in addition to age.
For other country grade level comparison inquiries please see here or contact our admissions team.
SCHOLARSHIP
ANNUAL FUND
Donations in support of ROAD
CAPITAL PROJECTS
LEARNER SUPPORT
CLUBS
Our Secondary School students have many opportunities to pursue their interests during lunchtime and after school clubs. Faculty and staff offer a variety of activities such as Math Competitions, Young Investors Club, and Student Media Team. Students can also join student-led groups and leadership teams that are supervised by faculty. These include Action for Refugees, Project Plastic, Sai Kung Stray Friends, ImpactHK, Dragonfly Council, Student Council and GCD Student Leadership Team.
ANNUAL FUND
The Annual Fund is a general fund that supports HKA’s operational budget. Unrestricted gifts to the Annual Fund help us realise additional innovative school projects not fully covered by tuition and the operational budget. Giving to the Annual Fund is a powerful way to support creative ideas and initiatives that bring HKA’s mission to life.
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LEARNER SUPPORT
HKA’s Learner Support programme caters to a wide range of students with diverse learning styles and needs. Inclusive education is at the heart of our mission, and HKA’s leadership in this area is known throughout the international school community.
15% of the student body is supported by this programme.
The Learner Support programme operates on an 80% recovery model. HKA is committed to subventing the remaining 20%.
HKA’s Learner Support programme is designed to ensure that all students can thrive in our rigorous learning environment. Inclusive education is at the heart of our mission, and HKA’s leadership in this area is known throughout the international school community. The Learner Support programme operates on an 80% recovery model. HKA is committed to subventing the remaining 20%.
Our commitment to diversity and inclusion includes socio-economic inclusion. Families may apply for a range of means-tested scholarships. HKA also offers financial assistance to families experiencing short-term challenges.
HKA offers scholarships at the 30, 60 and 90 percent levels.
The school will offer as much scholarship support as funding allows.
CAPITAL PROJECTS
HKA seeks to stay ahead of the curve by investing in capital projects that enhance our capitivative learning environment. We strive to implement a new learning initiative capital project, community artefact, or renovated building infrastructure on an annual basis. These multi-phased, costly projects are not included in the annual operating budget. They are critical to the long-term viability and sustainability of the school.
get involved test 3
HKA is committed to diversity and inclusion, including socio-economic inclusion. Families may apply for a range of means-tested scholarships. HKA also offers financial assistance to families experiencing short-term challenges.
HKA offers scholarships at the 30, 60 and 90% levels.
The school offers as much scholarship support as funding allows.
How to Get Here
The following information will assist you in arriving at our campus. If you have any issues while travelling, feel free to call our Main Office on 2655 1111 for more advice.
“Sai Kung Rocket”: Mong Kok <-> Sai Kung ‘red-top’ from Dundas Street
MTR & Taxi
The nearest MTR stations are Wu Kai Sha, Choi Hung or Hang Hau and all are approximately 20/25min away by taxi. Click here for an image to show the taxi driver with the school address in English & Chinese (香港新界西貢惠民路33號).
Private Car
There is no parking on campus but there are 2 public car parks, one opposite and one behind the campus.