BWW Reviews: THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK at Open Stage of Harrisburg

Anne Frank has become something of an icon, the voice of a generation that did not survive the Holocaust. It's likely that the source of her importance to us is that she was not, at the time, significant... and that, with all due respect to her significance to us now. She was an ordinary teenager swept up in events that she and her family were merely trying to survive, and her diary, later found and published (albeit heavily edited) by her father, the sole family survivor, is the writing not of someone of great significance but that of an ordinary person forced into the most extraordinary circumstances, without knowledge of their outcome. Her voice could be ours, and that is the reason for its equally extraordinary impact. Her diary was first published in 1947, then in English in 1952, and by 1955 Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett had it ready for Broadway, where it starred Susan Strasberg. In 1997, Wendy Kesselman did the new adaptation of their work.

This is a show with some history to it, as it's performed everywhere, under varying circumstances; it may only be legend that one "Anne" was so bad on stage that when the Nazis arrived, the audience shouted "She's in the attic!" Admittedly, that particular Anne is also rumored to have been played by Pia Zadora, so some may find the story perfectly credible. On the other hand, Open Stage of Harrisburg has been producing THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK on stage now for fifteen years, so perhaps we should just say that they have a far better grasp of what they're doing than that alleged production of legend. There is reason that the annual production has received substantial praise. Although the show is produced mainly for performance each year in area schools, there is also an annual public stage performance at Whitaker Center, as there was this year on March 8.

Director Anne Alsedek understands this play. It's relatively straightforward but it's not simple; the words are either Anne Frank's own narrative from the diary, or dialogue that illustrates it - it's tackling the underlying feelings and the reasons for everyone's behaviors that takes work. How do you nuance the relationship between Anne and Peter? How do you understand the tension between Anne's mother and the other mother there, Mrs. Van Daan? Anne isn't always clear - sometimes a result of her personal biases, sometimes of the diary's editing by others, and sometimes of her own editing of parts she had prepared to be read by the government, rewritten with her own eye to publication. (The unexpurgated diaries, now published, illuminate some of these differently, but still don't clarify others.) Alsedek has a firm grip on the relationships among the eight people in that crowded, often claustrophobic hiding place, and on their reliance on a very few (two, in the play) of their non-Jewish employees and friends.

Samantha Turret, as Anne, has the barely-contained energy needed to depict a young teenager forced into a confined living situation, and she uses it well. Not only that, but she's believable at it, unlike the many Annes who are visibly too old for the part both in looks and in movement. Brian Schreffler presents a well-handled Otto Frank, the backbone of the Frank family and in many ways of the entire group in the hiding place at his office. Schreffler is able to balance that fine line between exuding confidence and dealing with one's own fears. Clinton James McConnell IV is a fine Peter Van Daan, moving from awkward and embarrassed in his new circumstances and being cooped up with the far too irrepressible Anne to settled, more mature, and dealing with the possibility of a relationship. A special mention must be made of Lisa Leone Dickerson, however, who's a natural at exploiting the comic moments provided by Mrs. Van Daan... even when kale and potatoes aren't part of the scene. From flirting with Otto Frank to discovering her husband's midnight dalliance with the food rations, Dickerson is a gem.

The finest moment, both in writing and in performance, is certainly in the second act, at the group's Hanukkah party. It's beautifully handled. And it's always a relief to hear a group of actors switching into a foreign language (here singing Hebrew Hanukkah songs) who actually sound comfortable with their dialogue. It should be a given, but in this area it isn't.

Another special mention must be made of the set. A beautiful use of sparseness and light and shadow, though not minimalist, it's one of the last, if not the last, on stage by late area set designer Jim Woland, who was unarguably one of the best in the area.

Several members of the cast have been in Open Stage productions of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK before, and there will likely be cast repeats again, so those who haven't seen the Open Stage production yet almost certainly will be able to see veterans of it in next year's production. It's not a show most people should see every year, but especially if Holocaust matters are unfamiliar to you, it should be seen at least once, and at Open Stage.

Some warnings are in order. While there's a great deal of humor, moments can be very intense and not altogether comfortable - but it's not the purpose of drama to be comfortable. It's a true story, and the ending is a true one, not a pleasant one. It's perhaps not the best choice for taking your smallest of all along, and children who aren't seeing it in school should probably have some discussion with adults afterwards. And while there's no "adult" content, there are some possible adult implications at times, as with the reasons it was considered all right for Mr. Dussel to share a room with Anne and not with her sister Margot, or with Mrs. Van Daan's flirting with Otto Frank. Consider what you're willing and able to explain to younger children, if you think there will be questions. (The more recent unexpurgated Anne Frank diaries have been challenged for sexual content in some schools; it's on the American Library Association's banned/challenged books list.) This is also a comparatively gentle depiction of one of mankind's worst modern atrocities, but it still puts the audience face-to-face with it in a way that many plays and modern movies don't. If you're extremely sensitive, you may have a few issues in dealing with Holocaust issues this head-on.

For more information on the annual production, visit openstagehbg.com.

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