Neither Anna Watson or Frank Bruckner could have guessed that their quick conversation in a Center City cafŽ would lead to the long hours of brainstorming and rehearsal resulting in Teenager: Anne Frank, a widely anticipated Philadelphia Live Arts and Fringe Festival performance.

It all began as Anna Watson flipped through a German weekly magazine at the Tuscany CafŽ and was approached by a very curious Frank Bruckner.

"I asked her what the magazine was about and she said, 'Well, I'm from Germany,'" Bruckner, who recently arrived in the United States from Germany himself, said.

The two went on to exchange their stories. Watson had been in Philadelphia for about a year, living with her husband Richard. She was involved with theatre as an actress while in Germany, and wanted to make a break in the Philly theatre scene but had never performed in English. At the time, she was just enjoying herself teaching a theatre class for children.

Bruckner landed in Philadelphia for similarly non-theater reasons, but also had a wide-range of experience with film and theatre as both a director and an actor. Given the similarities, the conversation quickly turned to an idea Watson had for a one-woman performance about Holocaust victim Anne Frank, made famous by the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl.

The idea - in the making since Watson started it as her thesis project while studying in Vienna - grabbed Bruckner's attention. He offered his expertise, and before long they were putting together a show - Watson as Anne Frank and Bruckner as director.

"In the beginning we said, 'let's think - who was she?'" Watson said of their initial approach to the subject of Anne Frank. "She's a human being. She is a teenage girl. She's German. She's Jewish. But it's the human part that we wanted to give awareness to. If you can relate to something personally, it becomes stronger."

What makes Watson's and Bruckner's piece so interesting is the universal humanity. Most people wouldn't exactly consider Anne Frank an approachable subject on a personal level, but rather as an icon. Teenager: Anne Frank makes up for what is missing from most mainstream adaptations of Anne Frank's diary: the parallels of puberty and coming of age that we all share.

"She was not writing about the holocaust. She was not suffering, except the suffering of restriction," Bruckner said of his impression after reading Anne Frank's diary. "The way she wrote wasn't from the perspective of one that went through a camp. That's what I found very surprising. She never lost hope. She was so full of fun and hope."

The performance bases itself around the idea that Anne Frank, as an adolescent, had to deal with the rapid changes of her body and her life under extremely unfortunate conditions. Even under such pressure, she was unable to put off those changes and wait for liberation or safety.

"It's the icon, Anne Frank, becoming human again," said Watson of the show's purpose.

While it was Watson who largely formed the basis of the play, it was Bruckner, as the director, took on the task of actually visualizing the performance. After rehearsing in a few different locations that didn't quite fit for one reason or another, they settled on what could only be considered an unconventional space.

"At some point, Anna mentioned that they had a roof deck and I thought, I'd like to see that," Bruckner said of the sun deck Watson and her husband share with other tenants at the Parkway House in Fairmount. "We began rehearsing there and finally I said, 'This should be our performance space. This should be our stage.'"

After pulling a few strings, their dream space on the deck of the Parkway House was sealed. However, this new stage faced them with the challenge of recreating the enclosed, hidden feeling usually associated with Anne Frank's attic. Their solution may seem as unusual as their stage: a white cube made of plastic piping. While it represents a definite space, it maintains openness against a clear view of the Philadelphia skyline.

That is exactly why Watson and Bruckner like it: "You have a stark contrast here. It's open and wide. She could have had it, but she doesn't get it" Watson said about her interpretation of the set design.

Even the backdrop of skyscrapers is meant to serve a larger purpose beyond simply being a breathtaking view.

"The skyline is the dream image. She was always yearning to go outside. Of course, we don't have a chestnut tree, but we have the Philly skyline," Bruckner said, referring to the tree that Anne Frank viewed from her hiding place and often referred to in her diary.

Perhaps the Comcast Building, the newly constructed and tallest of all in the skyline, is representative of a modern-day chestnut tree. For Watson, it truly is.

"Maybe this is my chestnut tree. I immigrated here so I look at this," Watson says pointing at the city around her. "And, wow, I dream."

For more information, visit www.livearts-fringe.org

Seeing Teenager: Anne Frank at Parkway House

Teenager: Anne Frank, written and performed by Fairmount resident Anna Watson, will be performed at the Parkway House, 2201 Pennsylvania Ave., from Thurs., Sept. 10 to Sunday, Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. and Tues. Sept. 15 to Friday, Sept 18 at 8 p.m.

All shows are $15.