The Diary of Anne Frank is a stage adaptation of the journal kept by young teenager Anne Frank as she hid in exile in Amsterdam from the Nazi occupation during WWII. The diary was a gift for her 13th birthday and Anne started her diary in 1942, initially writing just for herself. However, in 1944 it was announced over radio that the Dutch Government planned to publish a collection of eyewitness accounts of what happened during that period once the war ended. In particular, they referred to letters and diaries from that time. Anne decided to write not just for herself, but with the plan to publish a book based on her diary entries. Anne never finished the diary. Her writing abruptly ended in 1944 when she and her family were betrayed to the Nazis. Anne was sent to Auschwitz before being transferred to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp. She died of typhus just months before the camp was liberated. After the war, her diary was discovered and published in 1947 by her father, Otto Frank. Since that time Anne’s diary has been read by millions of people around the world as an intimate account of life during the Holocaust.
The story was adapted for the stage in 1955, then further revised for a Broadway production in 1997. It means there are two quite different productions available.
Drew Anthony is the producer, director and production designer of this latest production of The Diary of Anne Frank, now playing at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne’s East End Theatre District. He saw the 1997 revised production on Broadway when he happened to be in New York at the time. However, he has specifically chosen to present the original 1955 stage production.
“And the reason why, simply, is that the original stage adaptation had a lot of input from Anne’s father, Otto, who was the only survivor of those two and a half horrible years in the annex. He came back from the war as the only survivor, decided to publish her book, and then the stage adaptation came a few years later. And as a result, he was able to be quite involved in the writing of the play. He’s not credited with writing the play, but he certainly was instrumental in providing first-hand information to the adapters. That version has always felt way more authentic to me than the revision in 1997.”
Drew Anthony had seen the original version of the play numerous times, in addition to the revised version.
“That’s really the one that I wanted because it just feels way more authentic.”
Drew Anthony spent his early career living in Sydney before moving to Perth about seven years ago. Drew Anthony Creative is a Perth-based production company. Perth’s Heath Ledger Theatre at the Stage Theatre Centre tends to be booked out for much of the year by state-funded companies, but when a booking window opened up and Drew Anthony was approached, he considered what type of production he wanted to present.
“I wanted it to be something with real meaning. And so after a great number of years of wanting to do The Diary of Anne Frank, I finally had my opportunity to do it in a city and in a venue that I felt was appropriate for this particular story. We were sold out two or three weeks before we opened, which was unusual for Perth, and that just told me that there was a real appetite for this story. One thing led to another and I made the decision to bring the show to both Melbourne and Sydney.”
As to why Drew Anthony chose this particular play, “It’s a play that I had seen many times in my life and just felt very connected to, as a lot of people do.”
While Drew Anthony didn’t read the book at school, he did see the stage production as a child.
“It had real resonance with me. And then I think I’ve seen it in total about five times, including that Broadway revival. It was a play that had always been floating around me as a storyteller, and when I got that opportunity to present it, I jumped on it.”
We shared stories of our visits to the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, to Auschwitz and to Bergen-Belsen. Drew Anthony returned to the Anne Frank House early last year, in preparation for the stage presentation in Perth.
“Last January, when I went to the attic, what struck me was how the absence of the physical structures almost encouraged or forced me to imagine what it must have been like. While I was there, I kept seeing the word Westerbork, which was the transit camp in Northern Holland, where after the arrest they were taken. Every Dutch Jew who was arrested or rounded up was taken to this same place and processed before they were sent to their final concentration camps.
“Unusually, the Frank family spent a couple of months at Westerbork because the invasion had already happened. Transports to the concentration camps had slowed down dramatically. So rather than spending the usual two or three days being processed, they actually spent a couple of months there. And tragically, they were on the very, very last transport to Auschwitz would you believe, from Westerbork. And then of course, Anne and Margot ended up at Bergen-Belsen.”
Drew Anthony also visited Westerbork. The experience helped him to really understand what it must have been like for Anne Frank and her family.
“So many of the buildings were just shells. I was forced to really imagine what it would be like. Both of those visits informed how I designed my set in the end. And it’s quite powerful.”
Visiting those sites and walking in the steps of Anne Frank was an experience that Drew Anthony described as being haunting.
“I was already very much in pre-production on the play and reading the script and dissecting the scenes. To step into the actual space, and feel the spaces and the dimensions and what it must have been like and all eight of them on top of each other – it was haunting. I knew that I was about to present it back in Australia and being in the space and thinking through all the scenes and thinking through all the situations that they were in, it was brilliant really for my own personal preparation before directing the actors. I think that it was a very valuable trip, but I think the one word I would use was, haunting.”
I asked Drew Anthony of the audience experience of watching this play. He said it was interesting after the show in Perth how many comments he received from audience members about the lighter and funny moments in the story, with people almost feeling apologetic for laughing.
“There are moments in the play that are very amusing simply because of the situations that come out of being cramped up in such a confined space with people for such a long period of time and the clash of personalities and the comedic bits that come from that. Of course, the diary of Anne Frank is not a comedy and we don’t certainly don’t present it as a comedy, but there are humorous moments in it,” Drew Anthony explained.
“All I want for people to do is to come and reacquaint with the story and walk away from it feeling as uplifted and inspired, as we all do presenting the play, because it’s such an uplifting and inspiring story. It’s a story of hope and incredible positivity in the face of unimaginable adversity. And that’s exactly what it is. It’s a very uplifting story written through the lens of a 13, 14, 15 year old girl. And the reality is that the diary of Anne Frank is a coming of age story more than anything. It’s a coming of age story of this incredible young, optimistic, hopeful young woman who through the course of being confined in this space, just continued to believe and continue to hope. I love one of her last lines in the play is ‘in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.’ What an amazing thing for such a young woman to write, basically knowing that the end was near for her. It’s quite incredible. So that’s what I want people to take away from it. It’s the hope and the inspiration.”
After the sold out, critically acclaimed season in Perth last year, this Western Australian company has now headed across the Nullabor for Melbourne. It’s a rare thing for a Western Australian company to bring a show to the eastern states.
“As a commercial producer, you know, it’s unusual for a producer like myself to, to present a play, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne with an all West Australian cast. I’m very, very blessed to have an extraordinary cast of actors. I couldn’t contemplate replacing this extraordinary cast. We, we built this show together a year ago. We had a wonderful season here in Perth and it was just a no brainer for me to pick up the entire show, set design and the actors show it to other audiences in different cities. So we’re really excited about coming over and presenting The Diary of Anne Frank in Melbourne and Sydney.”
Drew Anthony respectfully admits his cast are not “big names”. They are however, amazing actors who are the right people for these roles.
“I can’t imagine any other actors playing these roles, even had I cast right across Australia. A really great example of that is Chloe Jean-Vincent, who plays the role of Anne. As a director and as a producer, I just could not believe my luck when she walked through the door to audition in Perth a year ago. You know, you hope that the right people come through and you hope that you find an actor who’s capable of playing particular roles. But, for someone to walk through the door who is just so incredibly perfect for a role is really unusual. And that’s what I had with Chloe Jean in that role. Not only is she an actress who can bring the role to life, but she’s actually been a lifelong devotee of Anne Frank’s, did university theses on the book and has actually written herself a book that takes the story beyond the arrest and what those last few months of Anne’s life must’ve been like. So this is an actress who almost embodies Anne in a way.”
The Diary of Anne Frank is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Tony Award and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play. Her story remains powerful reminder of courage, resilience and compassion and continues to inspire generations. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see this inspiring story on stage.
The Diary of Anne Frank is now playing at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne’s East End Theatre District for a strictly limited season before heading to Sydney.
For more information: https://www.drewanthonycreative.com.au/the-diary-of-anne-frank
