1945. Dresden, Germany. Lizzie, her mother, and an elephant from the zoo, flee the Allied fire-bombing in the end-game of the Second World War. Escaping the Allies’ advance from the West – and also the advancing Russian armies from the East - this extraordinary trio of refugees meet: a downed RAF officer, cowering in a barn; a homeless school choir on the run and their Countess saviour, harbouring them from the Nazis; and the mechanised American cavalry, appearing over the horizon. It is Lizzie’s story, but Marlene – the elephant – is the heroine. Plodding, obdurate, opportunistic, load bearing, indestructible, cheering - Marlene embodies the stubbornness of the human will and how it will do everything to survive.
This poignant, imaginative production, adapted from renowned author Michael Morpurgo's book of the same name, came to BGS in April 2017. You can read reviews of the production here.