STORM clouds scud across a darkening sky creating grotesque forms that hint at the malevolence engulfing a continent.

It is a metaphor for a civilisation in meltdown… the German guard becomes a rat catcher in the time it takes to click the heel of a jackboot and then effortlessly morphs into the railway station jobsworth.

Uniforms and appearances change but it is all the same under the skin. Oppression is everywhere, viciousness and petty cruelty the norm… Diane Samuels’ agonisingly tense play about the forced repatriation of several thousand Jewish children from Germany just before the outbreak of the Second World War works on a number of levels.

On the one hand, we have the relatively mild but obsessive nastiness of the guard who so casually spills a little girl’s worldly possessions on to the ground.

This mean act provides a snapshot of the greater obscenity that is soon to come, demonstrating what many of us can do to others given the existence of certain conditions.

On the other side of the psychological equation, Ms Samuels strips bear the complexity of human nature, warts and all, in particular the relationships between mother and daughters.

Gabrielle Dempsey as Eva, the little Jewish girl fleeing the Hitler regime, is a moving portrait of vulnerability and terrified bewilderment as her life is, like her suitcase, turned upside down.

In later life, she will become Evelyn, and she too will experience the pain of a mother saying sad farewells as her daughter is about to start the great voyage into the unknown.

Janet Dibley’s portrayal of a woman helplessly observing history repeating itself is a masterpiece in character study, as is the part of Faith, played with wonderfully hormonal vigour by Rosie Holden.

Emma Deegan as Eva’s mother Helga chillingly conveys the utter misery of living in fear during the Nazi period and Maggie Steed – the long-suffering Lil - most surely deserves a medal for struggling through her role caught in the throes of a most unpleasant head and chest cold.

Meanwhile, the Paul Lancaster’s bogeyman - whether Ratcatcher or Nazi - is permanently lurking in the shadows, reminding us all that the underlying evil in all men’s hearts never sleeps.

Kindertransport runs until Saturday (March 15).