BLOG: Week 2 of The Road to Opening Stratford's THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

BroadwayWorld Toronto is pleased to present the first entry in an exclusive series of guest blogs from The Stratford Festival. Stephanie Rothenberg (Maria in The Sound of Music) and Sara Farb (Anne in The Diary of Anne Frank) will chronicle their road from first preview to opening night in our newest feature "The Road to Opening!" Here, Sara talks about technical dress rehearsals!

This has been a weird week: The way scheduling has worked out, we will have done the first possible show of the week (Monday matinee) and the last possible show (Saturday night). Weeks like this are when the true test of repertory theatre emerge.

As actors, we need to be able to leave the world of Anne Frank and visit She Stoops to Conquer or Oedipus Rex land, and invest fully in those worlds, and still come back from those trips to Anne as invested as we were when we left it last.

This week, we will have just tried out our She Stoops costumes for the first time in our technical dress rehearsal, which is the first time all technical and costume elements meet, and which begins crystallizing for us what the whole picture will look like. These costumes, designed by Charlotte Dean, are the epitome of sumptuousness, and everyone looks incredible. It's a far cry from the much plainer palette of Anne Frank.

Anyway, it'll be a bit strange to return to the annex for the Saturday night show. But as crazy-making as rep theatre can be in its pulling you in various directions, the benefit is that being away from a show makes you appreciate it more. And establishing relationships with other people in one show actually helps illuminate possibilities for relationships in another.

Here are some pics from around the backstage area! A rack of the earth tone wardrobe, sported by all the actors; a taste of the brilliant set, which was inspired by the concept of hiding in plain sight; and Mouschi, Peter's cat. It isn't a real cat.

See you next week!

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