| The Diary of Anne Frank
A Review by Danielle Goldstein
Dover High School
From the moment you walk through the doors of the Delaware Theatre Company, it is made clear that you are not in for a lighthearted night at the theatre. Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank is a slightly more lighthearted take on the sordid story of a young girl chased into hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Nevertheless, I often found myself holding my breath in frightened anticipation, despite knowing and expecting what was to come (due to numerous readings of the Diary itself).
The play takes off with Anne and her family in a mad rush to go into hiding, earlier than they had expected. The set was designed to illustrate the tight quarters in which they lived, especially given the large crowd of people sharing the space. Without being able to construct actual separate rooms, the set gave the proper illusion of the annex’s space.
Costumes worn by the main characters—those Jews who were in hiding—were modest and undefined; the only noticeable characteristic being the large yellow star on their shirts, which they made a point of removing once they established they would not be leaving the annex.
Perhaps one of the most significant factors that influenced the terrified tone of the play was the use of actual radio recordings of Adolph Hitler. These recordings were not just played aloud as a filler for a transition of scenes, but reverberated all around the theatre—coming at me from all sides, and leaving his voice echoing in the back of my mind.
In this adaptation of Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett’s play, the pair strives to show that Anne is just a normal teenager, who happened to live during a terrifying period of history. The developing relationship between Anne and annex-mate Peter is just like any other young teenage romance—unsure and clumsy, with a sweet innocence.
As Peter, Henry Raphael Glovinsky portrayed his role with the perfect amount of awkwardness. Both Sara Kapner and Joel Leffert perfected their versions of Anne and her father, with an absolute truth to the father-daughter chemistry. Kapner was stunning in her ability to remain constantly aware of the fact that Anne is a very young girl, and kept her girlish tendencies invariable throughout the performance.
Much credit must be given to director Meredith McDonough for finding the perfect balance of having a main character that is a sign of hope in a somber time—adding unwavering light to an increasing dark story.
After a powerful ending, and a particularly inventive use of stage space, the cast once again took the stage for a solemn, smile-free curtain call. Despite the (understandable) lack of enthusiasm of the cast, the audience rose from their seats without hesitation. Walking out of the theatre, viewers were almost completely silent, whispering as if anything they said would be too trivial to say out loud. There was none of the usual murmur of discussion; however, this spoke more to the fact that this adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank struck each member of the audience with such severity as to leave them speechless. Although the story itself is incredibly powerful, this particular performance might well have been the most moving portrayal I’ve seen yet.
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