one4review | On 14, Aug 2022

This play is a portrayal of the ground-breaking, but criminally unsung, co-founder of the Save The Children charity. Anne Chamberlain plays Eglantyne Jebb, a woman so driven by the plight of the starving children in Europe that she tirelessly campaigned for aid to be sent to them in a post war period where there was little sympathy for the defeated nations. Anne, who also wrote the play, discovered parallels between her life and Eglantyne’s, and she occasionally peppers the action with examples of how, occasionally, her own life followed a similar trajectory.

The play returns to Eglantyne’s younger years so the audience can appreciate where her drive came from. Despite her tragic love life and family tragedies, Eglantyne found the inner strength to carry on her life’s work in the face of crippling depression and ill health. After post war Europe, she turned her attention to famine struck Russia, loosening purse strings at an impressive rate. Her most awe-inspiring legacy is her Children’s Charter – the Rights of The Child which became the Declaration of Geneva and was adopted by the League of Nations.

This play was a very entertaining 75 minutes, giving the audience a vital history lesson on one of life’s real heroines. Anne was completely believable in the role of Eglantyne, so much so that the occasional return to her own story felt a disruption to the enthralling life story in front of us. That’s a small gripe though, and I, along with the audience, roundly applauded her at the end.

****

Reviewed by Rona

Gilded Balloon Teviot – Wee Room

11.05am (1hr 15)

Until 29th August (not 16th)