At the Gaithersburg Arts Barn
May 12 - June 4, 2006
Director: Stuart Fischer
Evening
Performances:
May 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27, June 2 and 3 at 8
Sunday Matinees:
May 21, 28 and June 4 at 3
Silver Spring Stage and the City of Gaithersburg
present the acclaimed and inspiring drama The Diary of Anne Frank
by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, adapted by Wendy Kesselman.
The play, directed by Stuart Fischer, is the powerful story of a
young girl’s honesty and hope enduring the horror of Nazi persecution.
The Diary of Anne Frank is a special presentation to be performed
at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn and will run weekends May 12
to June 4, 2006.
The Gaithersburg Arts Barn is located in the Kentlands, 311 Kent
Square Road, Gaithersburg, MD. General admission ticket price is
$12. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday
matinees on May 21, 28 and June 4 at 3:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased
at (301) 258-6394 or through the Gaithersburg RecXpress at
Gaithersburg
RecXpress.
"It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so
absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe,
in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart,” wrote
15-year-old Anne Frank in her now famous diary on July 15, 1944.
Three weeks later, she and her family are betrayed from their secret
attic in Amsterdam and taken to concentration camps. Anne died at
the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp six months later. After the
war, her father, Otto Frank, the only surviving member of the Frank
family, returns to Amsterdam. Miep Gies, who helped the family while
in hiding, saved the diary. It was first published in 1947 and since
has been translated into 67 languages. At the time, Otto Frank chose
to edit out sections of the diary – some portions on Anne’s young
womanhood and others that she wrote about being Jewish. Mr. Frank
wanted the diary to be more universal in its message and he did
not want to reveal some of Anne’s writing about her emerging sexual
feelings and opinions about others in the attic. In 1955, Goodrich
and Hackett wrote and presented the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award
winning stage version of the story, which was later adapted into
an Academy Award winning movie. In 1995, 15 years after Mr. Frank’s
death, an unedited version of the diary was published. With the
complete diary available, Wendy Kesselman newly adapted the play
in 1997. This version opens new insight into the brilliant mind,
indomitable spirit, agile wit, astonishing honesty, and impassioned
determination of a girl growing into a young woman. Her captivity
didn’t lock up her hope or her inspired gift.
In this powerful new adaptation, eight Jews hide themselves from
the Nazis in the attic of an Amsterdam office building. For two
years, they valiantly carry on a daily existence. During the day,
they remain quiet. But at night, they celebrate their survival,
maintain their traditions, learn about life, confront fear and desperation
and courageously resist despair and hatred. As Anne wrote, “It’s
utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos,
suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into
a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will
destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when
I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change
for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and
tranquility will return once more." Her ideas and story resonate
today and stir a new generation.
The cast features: Arielle Goldman (Anne Frank), Mark Shullenbarger
(Otto Frank), Kate Blackburn (Edith Frank), Elizabeth Assenza (Margot
Frank), Marcy Patterson (Miep), Tim Whitehead, Jr. (Peter), Bill
Spitz (Mr. Van Daan), Judy Mayer (Mrs. Van Daan), Bill Brekke (Mr.
Kraler), and David Berkenbilt (Dr. Dussel).
The production team includes Rob Allen (Assistant Director/Stage
Manager), Sharon Dodd (Assistant Director), John Buckley (Set Design),
Eileen Scott (Master Carpenter), Jim Robertson (Lighting Designer),
Frank Sledge (Sound Designer), Maggie Skekel Sledge (Costumes),
and Sonya Okin (Set Dressing/Properties).
Silver Spring Stage’s 37th season continues with the seductive
Les Liaisons Dangereuses or Dangerous Liaisons (May
19-June 11), and thrilling Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
(June 30-July 23). Silver Spring Stage is grateful for support from
the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, Maryland State
Arts Council and Combined Federal Campaign.
The Diary of Anne Frank is presented by special arrangement
with Dramatists Play Service Inc.
Tickets may be purchased at Gaithersburg
RecXpress
or by calling 301-258-6394.
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