Displaying items by tag: Albert Hackett

It’s been almost 80 years since the publication of Anne Frank’s Diary, and yet it remains one of the most significant personal accounts of the Holocaust on record. Though ‘The Diary of A Young Girl’ is a well-established work of young adult literature, it continues to be challenged by parents and school boards. The irony is that maybe there’s never been a more important time for children to read this haunting personal narrative.

Young People’s Theatre of Chicago presents a new adaptation of the 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. This is a secondary adaptation as Wendy Kesselman considerably trimmed the play down for the 1997 Broadway revival. Her updated script is generally considered the standard now. This new, 75-minute version was developed by the Nashville Children’s Theatre along with the Anne Frank-Fonds and is making its Chicago premiere at Greenhouse Theater Center. The goal of the shortened running time was to make the play more impactful for younger audiences. This is not to say this new version has been sanitized to appeal to conservative audiences. In fact, this script keeps the play’s most challenging moments intact.

Randy White directs this intimate production with an impressive young cast. Given that this is one of the most produced plays in the world, it’s reasonable to assume this cast could maybe be influenced by other actors’ portrayals of the two families in hiding. Instead, it feels like this cast decided to depict these real-life figures in their own way. Shelley Winters won an Oscar for her somewhat over-the-top performance as Mrs. van Daan, whereas Amy Stricker plays the part with a realistic coolness. One of the production’s most upsetting moments is when she must sacrifice her beloved fur coat so they can afford rations.

Despite its dark subject matter, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ endures because of Anne Frank’s ceaseless optimism in the face of the unimaginable. This fast-paced version moves quickly from scene to scene, but it doesn’t lose any depth. Rather, this is a version that children can identify with. For many children, ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ is their first exposure to the Holocaust, so while it’s important not to traumatize a younger audience, it’s also important for children to know the truth so that it can’t happen again. This production hits all the emotional high points that make this play so essential. It was touching to see how affected some tiny audience members were by the play’s chilling conclusion.

‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ is a play that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. While it’s certainly Holocaust adjacent, there’s a lot in this script about that human condition, and what it means to be a misunderstood teenager that everyone can relate to. Though Anne Frank never saw the impact her work had on generations of people, she achieved what she set out to do. Her diary is more than just a record of her time in hiding, it’s a work of literature wise beyond its author’s years and reminds us all to be gentler with each other.

Through March 24 at Young People’s Theatre of Chicago at Greenhouse Theater Center. 773-404-7336

The Diary of Anne Frank - Writers Theatre

According to legend, when Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich's Pulitzer Prize winning stage adaptation made its German premiere, audiences sat in a state of silent shock after the play ended. Nearly sixty years, countless productions, several films and hundreds of books about Anne Frank and the secret annex have made this story one of the most accessible pieces of Holocaust literature. In 1997, Wendy Kesselman adapted the original script for a Broadway revival that heightens intensity and includes more reference to the family's Jewish faith and to Anne's burgeoning sexuality.

Under the suburb direction of Kimberly Senior, Writers Theatre's production of Kesselman's "The Diary of Anne Frank" is as intimate as a story of this nature must be. Inventive staging immediately places the audience within the confines of the attic, fantastically designed by Jack Magaw. The Writers Theatre book store space is already intimate enough, but what Magaw has done to replicate the secret annex is nothing short of theatre magic. The tight quarters of this set paired with the vibrancy of the cast create an atmosphere in which emotional reaction is impossible to avoid.

What Senior extracts from her actors is a perfect storm of the best and the worst of humanity backed into a corner, in which the stakes really are life and death. Heidi Kettenring has the challenge of turning a mostly unlikeable character, Mrs. van Daan, into one of the show's strongest assets.  Kettenring balances warmth and tension in moments so electrifying that its current is contagious.

The title role is played by fourteen-year-old Sophie Thatcher who is the actual age of Anne Frank at the time of her internment. Thatcher plays the role with such surprising honesty and eloquence for an actress of her age. All her choices seem based on genuine instinct rather than what other historical documents tell us about the person Anne Frank was.

Despite the fact that everyone going into this play knows the tragic ending, and the unfortunate irony that Europe was liberated just a few months after their betrayal, it's easy to catch the show's infectious message of hope. The reason why this story lingers in our minds throughout the generations is its optimism. That no matter how dire the circumstances, faith in the good of people is what keeps the world in balance even when all seems lost.

The Diary of Anne Frank at Writers Theatre. 664 Vernon Ave, Glencoe. 847-242-6000. Through June 28th.