This is by no means a new
story. Originally premiering on Broadway in 1955, the play ran for 717
performances winning numerous Tony awards including Best Play. A dramatic
adaptation of a book, which itself was based on the actual diary, the story
has seen translations into numerous languages and has been presented in
almost as many mediums. Yet on stage, live, the play still remains a
powerful emotional piece. Tantallon Community Players’ presentation of the
work seeks to be a match for the power of the story but doesn’t quite make
it. This isn’t the fault of the production, just the limited experience of
its actors. The cast does an excellent job within the limits of their
abilities and the blocking and stage design do well to bring out the feeling
of having to live in the same space for 2 years with the same eight people.
TCP does take the show one step further, showing in their own way what the
passage of the 2 years might have been like on the streets of Amsterdam for
those not fortunate enough to have escaped or been in hiding.
Storyline: From
June 6, 1942 to August 4, 1944 eight human beings lived in secret above an
Amsterdam office building to keep from being taken by the Nazis. Their lives
together, with all of their frustrations, hardships, irritations, affections,
and fears were documented in the diary of the
youngest of them, Anne Frank who was 13 when they entered the secret annex.
Newly adapted by Wendy
Kesselman the playbill says, but this adaptation has been around since 1997
so it is now a decade old. Still, it is interesting to listen to the
audience during the intermission and after the show. The older members
discuss what they remember from their parent’s stories of the Holocaust. The
younger stating what they would have done differently if it had been them.
Then finally the older ensuring the younger understand what they are seeing,
what it represents. And why it must never come to pass again. This is the
power of stories, no matter how they are told. They serve to be a living
memory of an event, an idea, or a principle that we are able to pass from
generation to generation.
Valerie Holt, as Anne,
does manage to capture the essence of the role, but never truly steps to the
level beyond where we are seeing Anne Frank speak to us. This often is the
definition of the difference between professional and community
performances. Others will say that it is because the actors get paid some
amount, but in reality it is the point at which the audience stops seeing
actors playing a role on stage and instead just see the role. This happens
briefly in small moments during the TCP production, and that combined with
the nature of the story make it a somber presentation. Indeed during the
curtain call no actor bows or smiles, they are all still in character, and
on this night tears were in some eyes. The tears might have come from the
final monologue by Lance Adell, who plays Anne’s father Otto, when he
recounts the time from when the families in hiding were discovered until he
came into possession of Anne’s lost diary.
The set is large, and
many might think that it is too big for the family to feel cramped, but the
actual hiding place was large as well, three floors, but contained eight
people for two years, and seeing the same people 24/7 for that period of
time would make any space feel confining. The actors do a good job at
portraying that subtle transformation, from the giddiness of the initial
escape to the final despair that they might never get out. An accurate
portrayal this might not be, but it is well done and carries on the
tradition of ensuring this powerful story never dies.
Written by Frances
Goodrich and Albert Hackett based on the writings of Anne Frank - newly
adapted by Wendy Kesselman. Directed and Set Design by Lauren Bloom. Design:
Sheryl Fry (lights), Matt Rowe, Lauren Bloom, and Sheryl Fry (sound), Rionn
Kelly (costumes), Jessica Renee Delort (stage manager). Cast:
Cast: Lance Adell, John Battersby, Samantha Battersby, Aimee Bonnet,
Larry Carbaugh, Juliette Kelsey Chagnon, Harper Kelsey Chagnon, Rory Kelsey
Chagnon, Alex Deigh, Jack Donnelly, Zachary Frank, Art Greene, Valerie Holt,
Lani Novak Howe, Rionn Kelly, Grace Kim, Lydia Kirvak, Maria Miller, Terry
Mix, Shannon Perkey, Emmanuel Prince, Jo Rake, Chris Robichaux, Ashley Rye,
Brooke Rye, Gail Rye, Renee Rye, Greg Vass, Keith Mervine, Jarred Walker,
Michelle Williams.
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