The Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere is transforming a BBC Radio Four classic into a moving drama about a Holocaust survivor who was one of the ‘Windermere Children’.

The play titled 'CONVERSATIONS, From Hell to Wonder-mere', will be performed on October 13, 14 and 15, with tickets priced at £12 for adults and £7 for students.

Originally scripted by Trevor and Stacey Friedman for BBC Radio 4, CONVERSATIONS has been rejuvenated for its grand stage debut, performed by a local ensemble.

The play is an earnest depiction of one survivor's journey, showcasing the deep-rooted impact of the Holocaust on the victims' descendants, often referred to as the Second and Third Generation.

The production is helmed by its co-writer, Stacey Friedman.

The plot echoes the heart-rending narrative encapsulated in many documentaries and the 2020 Warner Bros Prix Europa Award-winning drama, 'The Windermere Children'.

In 1945, the Lakeland community welcomed three hundred child Holocaust survivors, offering them a period of recuperation before commencing their new lives.

These children, later named 'The Windermere Boys', described their Lake District refuge as 'paradise'.

CONVERSATIONS primarily unravels how Trevor Friedman, himself the offspring of an Auschwitz survivor, learned about his father's harrowing Holocaust experiences prior to his arrival in Windermere.

The play’s characters reflect the Holocaust’s enduring tremors echoing across generations.

It spotlights an insightful dialogue between David Rendel, a psychiatrist, and Shlomo Weider, a survivor; their conversation reveals that David's father closely accompanied Shlomo throughout the war.

Both were among those who found solace in Windermere, becoming the symbolic 'Windermere Boys', while they transitioned into British life.

Fliss Pocock, Theatre Manager said: “This play was first performed at the Jewish Museum in Manchester and we are delighted to be producing it here again to have its theatre debut in the most fitting place imaginable – in Windermere itself.”

Stacey Friedman, Director said: “I am extremely honoured to be directing this play just a short distance from the lake where the Boys, 78 years ago, were brought from Prague to begin to rebuild their lives in England.”

Trevor Friedman, Writer said: “I grew up with The Boys and their families as part of my extended family. The play is largely based upon the true account of my father’s experiences but including second and third generation offspring to illustrate how these experiences effect subsequent generations.”