EgoPo Classic Theater's THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK Opens 10/20

EgoPo classic Theater is proud to announce the start of their year-long Festival of Jewish Theater with The Diary of Anne Frank. Wendy Kesselman's new adaptation of the classic play, written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, will be directed by EgoPo's artistic director Lane Savadove. Staged at the Prince Music Theatre, The Diary of Anne Frank opens October 20th and runs through November 6th.

EgoPo Classic Theater continues their legacy of producing year-long festivals celebrating a specific genre or playwright with their 2011/2012 Festival of Jewish Theater. At once a celebration of a culture and an exploration of a rarely seen theatrical genre, this year's festival will bring the pinnacle stories of Jewish faith and history to life with the theatrical ingenuity and vibrancy that has made EgoPo a rising artistic force in their five seasons in Philadelphia.

The Festival of Jewish Theater begins with an intimate and highly realistic staging of The Diary of Anne Frank. Based on one of the most widely read books in the world, this newly adapted theatrical version documents the true events of a young Jewish girl facing the extermination of her entire culture. Wendy Kessleman's muscular adaptation of the original staged version, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, brings new and surprising details from the original diary. The well-known and well-worn Goodrich/Hackett version removed much of the religious identity and ethnic anxiety focusing primarily on the sentimentality of the story, making it a more accessible story fit for community theater. Kessleman returns to Anne's original diary, restoring her own thoughts on growing into adulthood in a world of isolation and threat. The premiere of Kesselman's adaptation on Broadway starred a young Natalie Portman and brought integrity, and honesty, back to this incredible story. The New York Times noted "This new interpretation never relaxes its awareness of the hostile world beyond the attic that was the Franks' sanctuary ... this one leaps, with a gripping immediacy, into media res."

The story brings audiences into the dangerous world of the Frank family. Anne Frank, a 13-year old girl, and small group of family and friends must hide away in a tiny attic to avoid persecution by the invading Nazi forces. Through the detailed and inspiring diary she kept for two years, this famous young heroine of the 20th century grows through puberty into young adulthood to become the embodiment of hope and humanity in spite of the most unimaginable tribulations.
EgoPo Classic Theater brings Anne's tale to life with focus on the private and personal details of the life shared between Anne, her family, and their fellow Jewish refugees living on the precipice of discovery and death. The maturation of a spirited young woman within the context of the most tragic times of the modern world brings into sharp focus the fragile nature of our own lives and just how precious each moment truly is. In terms of EgoPo's staging all seven of the attic's residents remain on stage the entire time, bringing the immediacy and delicacy of lives lived in close proximity as well as the strain living under unspeakable dangers. Whole relationships flower, feuds are waged, in the details of two hands touching and two eyes meeting. The audience is completely submerged in the lives of these families who, although living in desperate times, still experience the joys and disappointments of everyday life. When tragedy inevitably comes, the audience is not simply a witness, but a member of this living and breathing family that has been lost to the waves of history. EgoPo's Anne Frank is sure to be the most touching and inspiring story this season.

EgoPo Classic Theater is thrilled to introduce Sara Howard as the unsinkable Anne Frank. A recent graduate of Temple University and a member of the inaugural class of Pig Iron's School for Advanced Performance Training, Miss Howard made her Philadelphia debut in EgoPo's production of Hell last season. Rob Khan stars as Mr. Frank, a father tasked with protecting his family and the small attic community under enormous pressure. Mr. Khan was a celebrated stage and film actor in Los Angeles before relocating to Philadelphia to earn his MFA at Temple University. Mary Lee Bednarek takes on the beautiful Mrs. VanDaan, who is forced to abandon her past life of wealth and culture to live in the tiny shared space of the attic. Ms. Bednarek starred in EgoPo's Hell, and has also been seen at the Lantern Theater, Simpatico and Theatre Exile. Russ Widall rounds out the ensemble as Mr. VanDaan, the affable but selfish business man who brings his family to share the Frank's small sanctuary. Mr, Widall is a veteran of over 50 theatrical productions in Philadelphia. EgoPo is pleased to assemble a mix of EgoPo ensemble actors and some of the finest classic actors in Philadelphia to bring this important story to Philadelphia.

Lane Savadove will direct The Diary of Anne Frank. Mr. Savadove has been the Artistic Director for EgoPo Classic Theater for 15 years, including its five years in Philadelphia since relocating from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. In Philadelphia Mr. Savadove has directed the Barrymore nominated Spring Awakening and Barrymore nominated Bluebird as well as last year's world premiere adaptation of Hell.