review
At the beginning of 1900, a number of families from Antwerp and some surrounding villages. Everyone is under the spell of the Red Star Line ships, which transfer people to the promised land America. Who will take the big step? Who dares to leave land and family behind? “With the Red Star Line to America” is the story of a number of courageous emigrants, based on the play “The Red Star Line” by author and actor Alex Van Haecke.
The book
John Brooke Jr is an American whose grandparents have taken the big step to the promised but oh so strange and especially distant land of America. It is, among other things, that story that Alex Van Haecke wrote to come to the play “With the Red Star Line”. This production ran from 2006 to 2008 in Theater Zeemanshuis in Antwerp. The play was very successful and so actor, director and author Alex Van Haecke decided to turn it into a book. A book was published in 2011 entitled “With the Red Star Line to America” that is inspired in many respects by theater production.
The story
The story is about a number of emigrants who have decided to take the big leap to leave for America. On December 22, 1906, a few days before Christmas, they board the Vaderland II, one of the ships of the Red Star Line Company. But before they decide to leave everything and everyone behind, a lot of thinking has gone into it. What are they going to find over there? What do they leave behind? Is it going to be better over there? Will they ever be able to come back? Some will embark because they have no business in Belgium anymore, others because they think it will be better in America, still others purely for the adventure and the curiosity about the unknown. Still others board because they already have family members who have taken the big step and tell them how good and great it is in America. Once the decision has been made to take the step, one is not yet in America. The check before boarding is very strict, not everyone comes on board just like that. At the slightest doubt about possible illnesses, passengers are sometimes rather harshly asked to return home. They are given a letter written in chalk on their clothes indicating what should be done with them. Some families just get separated this way, some even forever! Dramatic scenes in the departure zone. In the story a number of fictional families are discussed, others are based on stories of children and grandchildren. The story is full of historical facts and written very lifelike. You can feel the roll of the boat, almost become seasick, almost smell the stench on board. The book gives a very true representation of life at that time and the events of that period. The socio-economic situation was very unstable, approaching the First World War. People also learn a lot about painter and draftsman Eugeen Van Mieghem, a well-known figure in Antwerp.
Information about the book
Title: With the Red Star Line to America.
Author: Alex Van Haecke
ISBN: 978 90 5720 407 4
Date of release: 2011
Publisher: Linkeroever Publishers Antwerp / Utrecht
Number of pages: 422
The Red Star Line Museum
The Red Star Line Museum opened in Antwerp on 27 September 2013. In this museum a lot of material about the emigrants, thanks in part to the passion for collecting by Red Star Line specialist Robert Vervoort. You can almost literally follow in the footsteps of the many emigrants. These emigrants were not only Antwerp residents, but also Belgians from other provinces, Jews, Poles, Germans, Russians, etc. The Museum is located at 3 Montevideostraat in 2000 Antwerp. In June 2015, a statue of a cormorant was placed in front of the museum. This statue comes from the Middelheim Museum.
Red Star Line postcards
In the MAS and in the Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp a nice series of postcards about the Red Star Line are for sale, including reproductions of old posters from the heyday of the scheduled service.
The Red Star Line: The Play
Between 2006 and 2008, 132 performances of the play “The Red Star Line” have been given. In 2013, production again took to the stage to mark the opening of the new Red Star Line Museum. Certain scenes were changed, others were added. Over the years, director Alex Van Haecke collected more information about the emigration and that extra information was also incorporated into the renewed play. After all, not only departing passengers walked around on the quay, but people could also meet returning, disappointed people. People who had not been able to fulfill their dream in the distant America and who came back to Belgium with hanging legs. The play’s premieres were on 30 and 31 August 2013 in the Red Hall of the Fakkeltheater. After that, the play ran in the same hall until November 3, 2013.