In January 2015, we were commissioned to produce Newcastle City Council’s Holocaust Memorial Day Commemorative Event for the second time. 2014’s event featured three new artistic commissions based on the theme of Journeys and was directed by Jonluke McKie.

One Small Case written by Paddy Campbell is a play made from three separate stories – a young boy is sent to England as part of the Kindertransport scheme from Germany in 1938, a Rwandan asylum seeker awaits the result of her asylum appeal hearing and a council bin man is asked to compromise his principals. In each story a physical journey has been taken or is about to be embarked on. We also see the psychological journeys, which can lead individuals and societies to accept the beginnings of intolerance and persecution. The play is performed by an intergenerational cast of professional and non professional actors.

Paddy Campbell is an emerging writer whose debut main house show ‘Wet House’ opened at Live Theatre last year, receiving critical acclaim and reaching number 10 on the Guardian’s Best Theatre of 2013 list.

‘The Final Lullaby’ was composed for Holocaust Memorial Day by musical director Bridie Jackson. It is sung from the perspective of the many Jewish parents in Europe who made the crucial but devastating decision to send their children to safety from persecution by The Nazi regime via the Kindertransport, a rescue mission that took place during the nine months prior to the outbreak of the Second World War. Although steeped in the sorrow of final goodbyes, there is also a fragile message of hope; as The Kindertransport gave thousands of children the chance of a future that would otherwise have been denied.

Bridie Jackson has a wealth of experience in composing and working with musicians and community groups and performed on the main stage at Glastonbury 2013 with her band Bridie Jackson and the Arbour.

The film included in the event features real life stories of people from the North East who recall their experience of a significant journey they have made. Thank you to Martin Ashburn and the City Learning Centre for their support in creating the film and to the participants for sharing their stories.

The event on the 26th January 2014 was opened with an address by Rabbi Lipsey. The lighting of a commemorative candle and a minute’s silence was be led by the Deputy Lord Mayor, Sheriff of Newcastle.