Long Beach Playhouse

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TELEGRAPH’S #1 Theatre Pick, Edinburgh Fringe 2017

Based on Eleanor Ramrath Garner’s best-selling memoir, this internationally acclaimed adaptation—performed by her granddaughter, Ingrid Garner—details Eleanor’s youth as an American caught in WWII Berlin.

During the Great Depression, 9-year-old Eleanor’s family moves from the U.S. to Germany in pursuit of work. But when war breaks out as they are crossing the Atlantic, return to America becomes impossible. While desperate for Allied victory, the family faces bombings, Gestapo threats, the final battle for Berlin, and the perils of Russian occupation.

Punctuated with humor and accompanied by cinematic sound and video, Garner embodies her ancestors in this coming-of-age odyssey that is more relevant than ever.

LONG BEACH PLAYHOUSE (5021 E. Anaheim Street Long Beach CA 90804)

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Read Eleanor’s award-winning memoir!

“Eleanor’s Story: An American Girl in Hitler’s Germany” BY Eleanor Ramrath Garner details the daily struggles of growing up as a young American in World War II Berlin. NOW ADAPTED INTO A ONE-WOMAN SHOW BY HER GRANDDAUGHTER INGRID GARNER, The book is a powerful piece of history, more relevant than ever.

ABOUT THE BOOK: During the Great Depression, when she is nine, Eleanor’s family moves from her beloved America to Germany, where her father has been offered a good job. But war breaks out as her family is crossing the Atlantic, and they cannot return to the United States. Eleanor tries to maintain her American identity as she feels herself pulled into the turbulent life roiling around her. She fervently hopes for an Allied victory, yet for years she must try to survive the Allied bombs shattering her neighborhood. Her family faces separations, bombings, hunger, the final fierce battle for Berlin, the Russian invasion, and the terrors of Soviet occupancy. This compelling story immerses readers in the first-hand account of surviving World War II as a civilian. It’s a story of trying to maintain stability, hope, and identity in a world of terror and contrasts, and it puts a very human face on the horrors of war, helping readers understand that each casualty of war is a person, not a number.