Hale Center Theater Orem Diary of Anne Frank Review

OREM —  The Diary of Anne Frank remains a staple in modern literature, the personal thoughts and feelings of a immature Jewish teenager during the Holocaust hitting and resounding against a backdrop of Nazi facism. I remember reading the book in loftier school and beingness impressed that a unproblematic teenager could take recorded the world while preserving the free energy of the around her. The nuances of her storytelling capture a slice of life, non necessarily honed in on the horrors of Nazism, but the day-to-solar day happenings of her family. A residue of personal and political, her writing manages to serve every bit a platform, upon which we can examine our own lives.  Anne Frank has always been less a character, and more than a peer, and revisiting this production reminded me of that same, intimate feeling of greeting an old friend.

Bear witness closes September 26, 2015.

Translated to the phase past Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, the product The Diary of Anne Frank remains largely true to the edited journals of Miss Frank. It can exist hard to lay out the scope of tragedy credible within the narrative, but a daunting, still first few moments spent with Otto Frank absolutely lends a necessary air of something lost. The audience tin can run into through his eyes the life that once existed and the tragedy that followed. Indeed, the story of the Franks is an admittedly tragic i, like to many Jewish victims of the Holocaust. As a means to escape the unsafe anti semitism, the Frank family left behind their house and relocated to a secret annex, a minor series of rooms shared with an office, the door of which was curtained behind a mock volume case. With only the clothes they could wear at one time and a purse full of possessions each, the Frank family was effectively in hiding. Joined by the Van Daans and later Mr. Dussel, the household members hid from persecution for almost 2 years, until an outside source betrayed their location and the SS took each person to their inevitable demise. This play chronicles that two yr bridge, giving life to Anne Frank'south diary, and painting a vivid moving picture of the fear, the promise, and life distilled in ane teenage girl's honest business relationship of her life.

Amber Contrivance Tinney deserves special praise for the realism she brings to her role as Anne Frank. It can exist a claiming to portray a fifteen year erstwhile girl, but Tinney brings all the nuance of adolescence to her performance. Her Anne is rambunctious, almost maddeningly so, and manages to question the world around her with a dizziness that certainly frustrates many of her housemates. At that place's a youthful sincerity to her, still, a real desire to be proficient and to sympathise precisely what is happening in her life.

Marker Pulham as Otto Frank anchors Anne's performance with his stalwart sense of direction. Equally family patriarch, it is his responsibility to guide the Frank (and Van Daan) clan through the rough times, and Pulham delivers. His evenness, like shooting fish in a barrel relatability makes him a cherished figure on stage. Existent warmth and nurturing exuded in his relationship with Tinney's Anne, which made the penultimate loss of his daughter that much more sorrowful.

Amber Dodge Tinney every bit Anne Farnk and Morgan Gunter every bit Peter Van Daan.

I appreciated the special consideration given to familial relationships with this play. It can be piece of cake to lose the focus personal connections with and then forceful a setting every bit Nazi-overrun Amsterdam; this production gives highlight to the richly complicated relationships formed in the closed confines of their abode. I was peculiarly drawn to the relationship between Anne and Edith Frank (played past Annadee Morgan). Morgan plays a more conservative motherly role, oftentimes the source of strain betwixt herself and her youngest girl. There is a real sense of wanting more, of wanting to be a mother to her Anne that is frequently stymied by Anne'southward abundant willpower. The strain of managing 2 households, in addition to beingness in hiding lends a certain stress to the graphic symbol, only Morgan's Edith bears her burden with a graceful dignity.

Becca Ingram's Margot acts in careful poise, a meek and quieted version of her mother, just the consistent foil to Anne's wild energy. Ingram carries herself with a delightful sugariness, though it is fun to run into her growth throughout the performance too, as Margot grows more than into herself.  I also peculiarly enjoyed Morgan Gunter's Peter Van Daan. Again, it tin exist a challenge for an actor to portray a grapheme much younger than themself, but Gunter captured the delights of teenage angst with a broodiness fitting of any adolescent. Gunter allowed the audition to see Peter'southward external walls and how he has managed to shield himself from the people effectually him. So, Gunter beautifully deconstructed those walls every bit he began to let Anne in. It was yet another relationship that took fourth dimension to really develop, and the result was a beautiful connexion between two human beings, rather than actors playing at games. There whole play had a sense of intimacy, whether betwixt father and daughter, mother and daughter, or boy and girl, that seemed beautiful and personal.

While uncomfortable initially, I appreciated manager David Morgan's decision to have the cast on phase and somewhat visible during blackouts. Having actors change costumes on phase, rather than leaving and utilizing a stage mitt, and keeping everyone nowadays in some room at all times was cramped, and prying. Such a modest space and so many people together helped to convey a sense of the discomfort surely felt by the Frank family at the time. The continued presence, fifty-fifty during pause, began to feel like an intrusion of privacy—for which I was strangely grateful. The actors developed lives of their own, and it felt far less like watching a play than just peeking in on piffling vignettes from someone's daily life. Truly, the collaboration between cast and coiffure afforded for something more than real, more touching than an boilerplate nighttime at the theatre. The characters became real people, and indeed, reminded the audience that the characters in the play did once exist. It'south a richly constructed narrative that finds poignancy over and over once more, peculiarly in those last moments when we are reminded of the fate of all those living in the secret annex.

While the story is a well-known one, I would encourage theatre goers to take the time to revisit Anne Frank. This product manages to strike a personal chord, bringing viewers into the day-to-day existence of what should have been an ordinary life, simply brings balance and realism to the extra-ordinary circumstances surrounding the Frank family unit. The lens of political properties, contrasted with more intimate situations arising within the family situation makes this a play I would recommend for younger theatre goers equally well.The Diary of Anne Frank remains an absolutely cute piece, and one that I wait frontwards to revisiting again.

The Diary of Anne Rank plays nightly (except Sundays) at 7:xxx PM and on Saturdays at 3 PM at Hale Center Theater (225 Westward. 400 N., Orem) through September 26. Tickets are $12-22. For more than information, visit world wide web.haletheater.org.

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Source: https://utahtheatrebloggers.com/21820/orem-hale-creates-an-intimate-production-of-the-diary-of-anne-frank

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