Anne Frank at Cronulla

For its final production for 2015, Arts Theatre Cronulla presents The Diary of Anne Frank. The adaptation by Wendy Kesselman from the original stage play by Goodrich and Hackett is directed by Neil Moulang.

Anne Frank’s diary has become an icon of one of the darkest periods of human history, capturing the claustrophobic realities of a daily existence of eight people hiding from the Nazis in a concealed storage attic in a house in Amsterdam from 1942-1944. Together with their fear, their hope, their laughter, their grief, Anne’s diary also exposes the coming-of-age of a complex, passionate young girl as she falls in love, grows into a woman and struggles to survive with her family amid the chaos of war and religious persecution.

This adaptation includes new material from Anne’s diary as well as stories from other survivors, creating a contemporary account of the lives of people persecuted under Nazi rule, and allowing audiences to come to know Anne and her family in a more personal and empathetic way. The characters swing between being heroic and frightened, vivacious and subdued, with the play presenting an insight into what it meant to this group of people to try and maintain hope in a time of awful tragedy.

As Anne presciently wrote in her famed diary: "When I write I shake off all my cares. But I want to achieve more than that. I want to be useful and bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death!" Through the legacy of her diary, Anne takes her place in history as a sensitive and spirited young woman, her diary being celebrated as an eloquent testament to human spirit.