The story of Anne Frank is a familiar one. The expressive teenager, who was sequestered with her family in WWII Amsterdam to protect them from Nazi capture, has been famous for her diary, written during their isolation. Now the Young People’s Theatre of Chicago presents this familiar story in a new, crisper version, written to highlight the details that will make her diary meaningful to tweens and teens.
Artistic director Randy White does a masterful job of staging this story at the Greenhouse Theater Center’s upstairs mainstage. The long alley playing space, with seating on both sides, enables us to get to know the Franks and other residents who join them to escape the Nazi threat. (The sounds of planes, guns, marching feet and sirens punctuate the story.) The new one-act interpretation of The Diary of Anne Frank was written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from a new adaptation by Wendy Kesselman.
A bit of background. The Frank family lived in Frankfurt, where Anne was born in 1929; her sister Margot was born in 1926. The family moved to Amsterdam in 1933 after Hitler gained control over Germany. Otto Frank worked in various businesses in Amsterdam; in 1940, the Nazis forced him to give up control of two businesses he operated. When the Nazis began deporting Jews from the Netherlands in 1942, Frank moved his family to an “annex,” part of a business building where he worked. The building’s owner supported the family’s effort to hide from the Nazis.
The lives of Jews in Amsterdam become more and more restricted, as Anne (Esther Fishbein) tells us in act one, as she reads from her diary. “We had to turn in our bicycles, couldn’t ride in streetcars, couldn’t walk on the sunny side of the street, couldn’t be on the street after 8pm! No libraries, no movies …. We couldn’t even sit in our own garden! Our identity cards were stamped with a big black “J.” And...we had to wear the yellow star.”
Fishbein is a delightful Anne, a lively, curious and sometimes noisy 13-year-old, in a performance that will appeal to the young audience. Otto Frank, played with stirring leadership and fondness for his daughter Anne, is played by Adam Bitterman. He cares deeply for his wife Edith (Caron Buinis, but played by understudy Evelyn Leary on Sunday) and his older daughter Margot (Juliana Liscio) as well as for Anne. The family makes room in the annex for the Van Daan family—Mr. Van Daan (David Krajecki), Mrs. Van Daan (Amy Stricker) and teenaged Peter (Sam Hook, but played by understudy Trevor Hendrix on Sunday). Later they take in Mr. Dussel, a lonely dentist (Jeff Broitman).
The families live in their controlled space for more than two years—never able to leave for any reason, and forced to remain quiet and shoeless during the day when workers are in the building. After 6pm, they can eat, converse and entertain themselves with reading, music and card games. During this time, Anne and Peter become friends and confidants. Food and news is occasionally delivered by their outside contacts, the affable Miep (Tamsen Glaser) and Mr. Kraler (Jake Busse), who represents the building, but food becomes scarcer as time passes and starvation looms.
Eventually, the inevitable arrives: Nazi officers knock at the door. As the Nazis push everyone out, people take whatever belongings they can grab; Anne leaves her diary behind. But her father retrieves it and many years later, arranges to publish The Diary of a Young Girl, usually referred to as The Diary of Anne Frank.
White’s cast members are all strong performers and tell a compelling Anne Frank story; we see how all of them respond to the isolation and enforced togetherness. At the Sunday performance, the two understudies stepped in with fine performances. Trevor Hendrix was especially good as young Peter; he and Fishbein portray a believable personal connection.
The scenic design by Jonathan Berg-Einhorn is a strong element in the play’s drama; we feel the limitations of the space for its eight residents. Lighting is by Bridget Williams and sound design by Kurt Ottinger. Stage manager is Payton Shearn. Props designer Nicolas Bartleson was able to include a version of Anne’s red-and-white plaid diary that has been used in other productions of this play, adding a unique legacy to this production.
The theater company has mounted a detailed lobby exhibit on the life of Anne Frank from the Anne Frank Center. Be sure to allow time to see it before or after the show.
The Diary of Anne Frank by the Young People’s Theatre of Chicago continues through March 24 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. The play is recommended for ages 10+; running time is 75 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are $26 for ages 17 and under and $37 for adults for performances Saturday and Sunday.
For more information on this and other plays, see theatreinchicago.com.
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