THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK Comes to Avon Players Theatre

One girl’s true account of a growing up in extraordinary circumstances makes for a harrowing and hopeful play as Avon Players Theatre will present The Diary of Anne Frank, running November 7-22.

The Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most famous and haunting stories to emerge from the 20th century.  The memoirs of this young Jewish girl, forced to hide for nearly two years to escape Nazi persecution, are an essential part of how we remember one of the darkest periods of our human history.  In her secret attic, Anne comes of age: she laughs, plays, fights with her mother, and falls in love for the first time.  In spite of her oppressive circumstances and the horrors that surround her, Anne’s spirit transcends as she voices her belief that, “in spite of everything, people are truly good at heart.”  Anne’s dynamism, her luminous spirit, and her story of resilience continue to resonate deeply, making her story as vital today as when her diary first was published.

The play is adapted from Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.  In July 1942, the then-thirteen-year-old Anne and her family went into hiding in the sealed off upper rooms of the annex at the back of her father’s company’s building in Amsterdam.  The Frank family, including Anne, her older sister Margot, her father Otto, and her mother Edith, hid in the tight quarters for more than two years along with four others aided by trusted colleagues of Otto.  In August 1944, the group was discovered and deported to Nazi concentration camps.   Of the eight, only Otto Frank survived the war.  Miep Gies, one of the family’s helpers, retrieved Anne’s writings from the secret annex and gave the them to Otto when he was released.  The diary was first published in Dutch in 1947, and the first English translation was published in 1952.  The book has since sold over 30 million copies in 70 languages.  The 1955 stage adaptation by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett earned the Tony Award for Best Play as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  The revised version of the script adapted by Wendy Kesselman debuted on Broadway in 1997 and starred Natalie Portman as Anne.  

Director Angel Maclean first read Anne Frank’s book at age 13 (the same age at which the author entered hiding).  Initially she found Anne’s story terrifying.  “It was hard to imagine such events happening, and yet, they did happen,” Maclean said.  As she continued reading, she saw that her initial terror was only one part of a tapestry of feelings that the true story inspired: “I learned that the promise of a better future, even joy, can be found in the worst of conditions.  And—what’s more—there are people who will help if you can find them.”  As with so many readers over the decades, Maclean became ravenous about reading everything she could about the history that surrounded the novel.  She is proud to be able to channel her lifelong interest in the novel and the historical period into this moving and inspiring play.  According to Maclean, “this is a story about resilience, about connections among family, and about community support, all themes that resonate today as much as they ever have.”