Installment 4
Diary of Anne Frank
I had never read the diary nor have I seen a film or play based on it, although I knew the basic facts, so I’m not a very trustworthy commentator on this production. A quick history of the diarie(s):
- a version was published in English in 1952 which had been edited by Anne’s father Otto Frank. He had cut passages in order to protect the memory of others involved, and had also been advised to excise parts dealing with Anne’s emerging sexuality that the publishers felt would not be well-received by conservatives
- a play version by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett was produced in 1955, and a movie based on the play came out in 1959
- the veracity of the diaries was attacked by Holocaust deniers, and partially in response to this the unabridged diaries were published in 1995
- check here for more details
The play that we saw here in Ashland is a re-write done in the mid-90s by Wendy Kesselman. Many felt that the original play “bowdlerized” the diaries by keeping Anne a pre-pubescent, and removing most of the participants’ Jewishness in favor of a heartwarming story of a young girl. Paradoxically, this may have been the only way that the story could thrust memory of the Holocaust into the consciousness of an America obsessed with McCarthyism and post-war prosperity and, on those terms, it worked.
Kesselman was apparently contractually constrained to incorporate most of the original play’s language, but was able to add a Hanukkah celebration, some of Anne’s post-puberty feelings and some of the less-noble behavior and sentiments among the eight of them that holed up for 2 years together in very limited space. So, I’m not sure what we’re left with in the play. The playright, and the actors, are circumscribed both by the original diaries and by the 50s-era (mis)interpretations of them. What I take away, in the end, is a reminder of the monstrous social and political constructs that men are capable of promulgating and executing, and an enduring admiration for the writing talent and perseverence of the author of the diaries. It certainly trivializes any angst I might feel about not feeling inspired to do a blog entry. And, I’m drawn now to reading the diaries themselves. In fact, what touched me most about this Ashland production was when Anne’s father appeared at the end, revisiting The Annex after surviving the war. He held up the diary and said, “All that remains.” as Anne’s script is projected over the entire set.
