Anne Frank's story: More bitter than sweet
Anne Frank, the girl who launched a million (or more) diarists, was also a girl whose dreams came true. She dreamed of becoming an author. She dreamed of being a movie star. She dreamed that her best friend Hanneli, taken away during the Franks' concealment, would see her again. She also dreamed, regularly, of the Gestapo storming her cramped hideaway and dragging her and the seven other Jews - with whom she lived, loved and shared two tormented years in hiding - away to their deaths.
Anne Frank, the girl who launched a million (or more) diarists, was also a girl whose dreams came true. She dreamed of becoming an author. She dreamed of being a movie star. She dreamed that her best friend Hanneli, taken away during the Franks' concealment, would see her again. She also dreamed, regularly, of the Gestapo storming her cramped hideaway and dragging her and the seven other Jews - with whom she lived, loved and shared two tormented years in hiding - away to their deaths.
Wendy Kesselman's 1997 adaptation of Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett's 1955 The Diary of Anne Frank, currently in production at Delaware Theatre Company, makes a few changes, adding extra bitterness to the bittersweet original version. Even the play's jokes are dry as sawdust in the mouth. When Otto Frank surprises his wife with a Hanukkah present of her heirloom music box, Mrs. Van Daan turns to her husband and whines, "Why didn't you save anything of mine?"
His answer? "I saved you, didn't I?"
A discussion of Anne's budding sexuality was originally removed from the diary by Otto. Kesselman's inclusion of it feels exploitative, tacked on solely to modernize the script. It is particularly out of place since Meredith McDonough directs Sara Kapner's Anne as a flighty imp, not introspective enough for us to feel comfortable with this sort of intimacy.
Henry Raphael Glovinsky's Peter never truly connects with Kapner, but tensions between the adults, their bickering, desperation, and attempts at restraint filling the meager emotional space between them, add much-needed depth. However, Kevin Judge's set allows too much room, missing the sense of claustrophobia that spurred Anne to often loathe her fellow fugitives.
Kesselman's final change is perhaps her most powerful. Goodrich and Hackett's script ended with Anne's famous statement of her belief that, "in spite of everything, people are truly good at heart." Here, that sentence is smothered under the chaos of her arrest, and we are left with Otto's descriptions of each of the Annex residents' death, and Hanneli's final glimpse of 15-year-old Anne at Bergen-Belsen, wailing "I have no one anymore!"
Still, her irrepressible humanity is tangible throughout the production, and its accessibility makes it a perfect fit for DTC's Bring-a-Teen program, in which every adult purchasing a ticket can receive another free for someone 13 through 19 years old. Be forewarned, though, that it is a profound experience to watch this production with a beloved child.
The Diary of Anne Frank
Written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, adapted by Wendy Kesselman. Directed by Meredith McDonough, scenery by Kevin Judge, costumes by Emily Pepper.
Cast: Nikki Coble (Margot Frank), Henry Raphael Glovinsky (Peter Van Daan), Joel Leffert (Otto Frank), Dori Legg (Edith Frank), Geraldine Librandi (Mrs. Van Daan), Sara Kapner (Anne), Maggie Kettering (Miep Gies), Paul L. Nolan (Mr. Van Daan).
Playing at: Delaware Theatre Company, 200 Water St., Wilmington. Through Nov. 9. Tickets: $31-$49. Information: 302-594-1100 or www.DelawareTheatre.org.
EndText