Repatriation of refugees
A pile of old suitcases confronted us as we entered the theatre and up the stairs and in the dishevelled auditorium were little makeshift shelters. (Extra)    Sometimes people wrapped in tattered coats and blankets appeared throughout the theatre climbing down ladders from the circle to the stalls shouting.  The theatre manager climbed up and down from the lighting stage above where he could keep an eye on his beloved theatre.
We were (supposedly) in a provincial theatre in Germany which was being used by British troops as a temporary transit camp for refugees from across Europe.  A British officer was trying to sort out a displaced persons assembly centre housing eastern European refugees and concentration camp survivors from places as far apart as France and Russia. Then convoys would take them for repatriation east or west. Different nationalities were being directed to go to various areas of the theatre before being then told “West bound to the Dress Circle.  East Bound to the Stalls.”  Problems arose as many did not want to be sent east or west as they feared for their future or no longer had homes or even a country to return to.  It was obvious that some fellow countrymen would not be happy to go with each other and conflicts arose until there was a health crisis when they were all forbidden to leave.   
“Cockpit” was written by Bridget Boland just after the war when 11 million displaced people were eventually repatriated although it wasn’t till 1952 before most of the camps were closed. 
The Lyceum theatre in Edinburgh is staging this thought provoking play just now and it seems very relevant today not only because there are so many refugees in many parts of the world but also because as the producer Wils Wilson writes  “This production has come together primarily because of its subject matter.  It's about displaced people, and forging Europe out of the chaos of the War. It's also about what the British understanding of mainland Europe is, and how that's partial, fractured and troublesome. With what's happening with Brexit and the refugee crisis as well at the moment, it just seems the right play to do right now.”
It is worth seeing if you have the chance.