The Diary of Anne Frank - an insider's view by Greg Blarr (Otto Frank)

After our fourth performance in front of a live audience, I surmised that it may be in poor taste for a cast member to write a review of a play in which he is currently appearing. I decided instead that it would be a challenge to try to write an objective piece - certainly from an insider's point of view - and share it with those who are considering whether or not to attend the play. I will attempt to rise to that challenge now: I urge you to attend this play. I can promise you that you will not be disappointed. Note that the following are my views, and may not represent the views of the director, cast and crew.

First, please indulge me as I share some background. This is necessary to understand what you will soon see. When the cast list was posted, I learned that I would be playing Anne's father Otto and that my daughter Megan would be playing my daughter in the title role. I had envisioned (in fact, hoped for) this scenario since the season was announced in May of 2008. Now the work was to begin in earnest. At the read-through, those assembled began the organic journey that every cast must embark upon...the journey that leads individual actors to become a cast. I have learned that a true cast comes together in the supreme effort to tell a story.

In this case, the story is part of a world view. These images from the experience of a young girl hiding out in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam have touched millions across generations. It's very intimidating. From the very beginning, there was the sense that each cast member was dedicated to learning everything there is to learn about their characters...real people who spent two long years together on the fourth floor of a warehouse. We learned of their backgrounds. We read, and viewed, and shared information with each other on who these people really were. We studied and discussed how Anne's viewpoints may have exaggerated both character faults and character strengths.

After all, she was a teenage girl at the time, sharing close quarters with people she would rarely see on the outside. While she was exposed to Nazi “rules” regarding the treatment of Jews, she seemed unblemished by the anger, fear and frustration that embeds itself within us adults. Only near the end of their time together does she admit to just starting to “form an opinion” of the way things are. So, in a supportive, matter-of-fact manner, we assembled these facts, our own perspectives, emotion and logic and brought it into the amorphous Annex.

We took all this information and layered on it the advice of director L. Don Swartz: keep our characters “real”. Don warned us that he would be quick to point out if he caught anyone “acting”. The only thing missing was a real first person perspective, because let's face it, none of us have ever been through anything like what the Franks and Van Daans and Mr. Dussel experienced.

Enter Sophia. To remind us that Anne Frank was not the only child to be forced into hiding, we welcomed into our theatre a woman who goes only by the name Sophia. Sophia had been in Amsterdam as a 13-year old Jewish girl, living a few blocks from the Franks in the 1940s. She, too was forced to hide for two years. Now 80, she told her story to us. Her willingness to share the fear and horror of her experience, and the lessons she took from survival, inspired us to bring Anne's diary to life in a way few of us expected. With The Diary of Anne Frank, we are never sure what the audience expects. Do they envision the depressing story of a family forced to change the way they live simply to survive, or will they be open to the inspiration and hope that enabled them to survive? Do they expect to be angered by events leading to the end? Will they be touched not only by the dark clouds of Nazism, but by the lighter moments such as those we all encounter in our own families? Can they possibly be made to understand the constant dread hanging over the eight roommates for two long years? And can they put themselves into the situation as a 13, 14, 15 year old girl who longs to live free to chase the dreams that now must sleep with her and her diary?

Act One begins at the end, with Otto Frank taking one last reluctant look through an Annex that has long since been abandoned. Returning from Auschwitz, he is physically and spiritually crippled as he makes his way through what had been his family's sanctuary for two years. Miep Gies, his former employee, accompanies him. Miep hands him the diary she finds and he and begins to read. Through the diary, we are introduced to the Franks, the Van Daans, Jan Dussel and to their situation. We meet Mr. Krahler and Miep Gies, their protectors and providers at great risk to their own safety. We get a glimpse of the complex interactions brought about through the strengths and weaknesses of each character.

Act Two takes us further into their stay in the Annex. We learn of the constant threats to their safety, of their fear of being discovered, of their reactions to the great discomfort of confinement, and to the risk of losing the security of confinement. As Miep and Krahler bring news of what is going on around them, they react with appropriate anger, fear and sadness, then hope and joy. We see how easy it is to turn against one another as the pressure mounts, and how fully they then celebrate when good news opens the release valve. Anne's writing tells us that while she gets discouraged, she never despairs. This is the great theme that weaves its way through her story. As Act Two ages, so does Anne. We see changes in the way she looks at herself, her life, her future, and her present with Peter. She has grown, matured, but has never lost that spark of hope we saw in the earliest scenes.

The ending serves to remind the audience of the evil they were hiding from. Hope vanishes, but then returns as they cling to the belief they had all along - that help is coming. What happens next? Otto provides the answer as we return to the opening scene, after the war has ended. The circle is closed, and the audience is free to react. Thus far, the audience gets it, which means we are doing our jobs in telling this very moving story. Even the elementary and middle school students understood, cared and paid attention, as their questions following the matinee performance proved.

I have been performing at the Ghostlight Theatre for over four years, and there is something very special about The Diary of Anne Frank. If I were to review the play, I would start by saying that the set is ideal. We are confined enough so it feels like eight people living in one small room, yet we are using both levels of the entire stage. The props are chosen and placed where we see how spartan their lifestyle was, yet they have just enough comforts to get by. The lighting is so well-designed and show-managed that it feels as though we are in a black and white WWII movie. The sound effects, purchased from the original Broadway show, are engineered to perfection...so much so that the cast really is reacting to what's going on. The voiceovers that bridge the scenes were recorded as an inner monologue...Anne thinking as she writes in her diary. They serve several purposes, but to me the main purpose is to invite the audience into Anne's feelings that cannot be conveyed through action or dialogue, and to tell them how much time has passed from one scene to another. This they do, and do well.

Don Swartz has brought everything in his formidable experience to this story - he has held nothing back. We, and the audience, are the beneficiaries. His wife Debby has brought life to our appearances with impeccable period costuming. You know it's perfect when you feel as comfortable as you would in your own clothes. And the 10 individuals who met in early January to read through the script have successfully completed our journey. We are now one teacher, one storyteller. One cast.

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