Theater review part deux: The Diary of Anne Frank at Addison Theatre Center

by Christopher Soden of Christopher Soden, Dallas GLBT Arts Examiner

WaterTower’s The Diary of Anne Frank is pitch perfect and unforgettable.

Mark Oristano

Cast from WaterTower Theatre's The Diary of Anne Frank

Presented by WaterTower Theatre at Addison Theatre Center, The Diary of Anne Frank (dramatized by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett) is a poignant, subtle, excruciating condemnation of anti-Semitism and intolerance, told without extremity, didacticism, or manipulation. Anne Frank, a teenager who could be any religion, really, has been forced into hiding with her sister, Margot, and her parents, Otto and Edith. Like thousands of other young girls passing into adolescence, she is brash, self-absorbed, mischievous, curious about romance and sex, drawn to her father and resentful of her mother. We see her struggling with these issues and feel a sharp tug, because we know it’s all just part of the process. None of it would seem so bad, if it were not for the extraordinary circumstances.

Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler have offered refuge over a factory to the Franks, Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan and their son, Peter, and Mr. Dussell, a dentist. Fear of discovery by the Nazis is always looming like a concealed bomb, faintly ticking. But as time passes, and we share in Anne‘s changes and growth as a person, we‘re briefly distracted from imminent catastrophe. Despite their best efforts to create routine and normalcy, the specter of calamity impinges just when they begin to relax. In a moment of carelessness, Anne spills milk on Mrs. Van Daan’s mink coat. In the heat of rage she proclaims, “I could kill you for this.” Through no fault of their own, these individuals must cope with desperation that turns even trivial matters into traumatic episodes.

Mark Oristano

Cast from WaterTower Theatre's The Diary of Anne Frank

I have never read the source material, but you must admire Goodrich and Hackett for a play that feels like a great deal more than the dramatization of a biography. The challenge of Diary, I think, is to create a memorable, engrossing experience without focusing on bleakness and danger. The content is teeming with pathos and despair and the playwrights have been very careful not to exploit that situation and us in the process. The characters are neither saints nor martyrs, but just like the devout in any culture, worship is part of their lives. We see the families and Mr. Dussel (a source of comic relief) in their moments of virtue and pettiness. As we bear witness to the careful way they must function, so as not to draw attention to their presence, larger issues of assimilation and xenophobia arise. Is the microcosm in Diary not also a metaphor for the precarious and illusory balance of civilization? The ubiquitous, seething frustration and hysteria that can breed persecution? Anytime? Anywhere?

Director Terry Martin and his dedicated, invested cast have done an exquisite job with this sensitive material. Molly Franco as Anne was warm, spontaneous, canny, and captivating. It seems that scene designer Clare Floyd DeVries is always busy in one part of town or another, her expertise is always evident. Her set for Diary is detailed, and nearly as haunting as the narrative itself. WaterTower’s The Diary of Anne Frank is pitch perfect and unforgettable. It is a tribute to the glory and sorrow that comes with the privilege of humanity, and how we choose to honor that.