It’s May 1945, liberated Holland. The War is over, but because of a shortage of troop ships the Canadian Army remains in the Netherlands. Emma, an independent Dutch woman, meets Alex, a young Canadian private from rural Alberta. Emma has lived through five harrowing years of German occupation that ended in the ‘hunger winter’ of 1944-45, and wonders how she can put her life back together after everything she’s experienced and everything she’s lost. Emma sees in Alex the chance for a new life, to leave the expectations of her mother, the village and the church, to leave the horrors of the war. But she has to make a choice–to make peace with what’s happened in the past, or to flee to a future in Canada.
Liberation Days is a sweeping, romantic, heartbreaking play about both the benefits and the costs of liberation.
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News & Reviews
“Powerful, sweet, poignant and often surprisingly funny.” — Calgary Herald
“Our playwrights don’t pen a lot of sweeping wartime romances that can fill a commercial-sized house… it’s worth celebrating this one.” — The Globe and Mail
About the Author
Born in Amsterdam and raised in Canada, David van Belle is an Alberta-based director, actor, playwright, and theatre deviser. He has been Co-Artistic Director of Ghost River Theatre, an ensemble member of One Yellow Rabbit, and playwright-in-residence at Alberta Theatre Projects. David’s plays include Liberation Days, The Highest Step in the World, The Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, and Tomorrow’s Child (co-created with Matthew Waddell and Eric Rose), BUZZ JOB! The True Story of Cal Cavendish (with Kris Demeanor,) The Invisible Project, and Of Fighting Age, created with Col Cseke, Christopher Duthie and Anton de Groot, and an adaptation of A Christmas Carol.
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