Diary of Anne Frank

by Bill Tobin 5/6/11

Diary of Anne Frank

The Holliston High School Drama presented a great adaptation of the play, The Diary of Anne Frank on May 5 and 6. There are two more opportunities to see it on Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening.

Above is a copy of a page of the 65 year old diary.

The Holliston High School Drama presented a great adaptation of the play, The Diary of Anne Frank on May 5 and 6 with two more presentations on Saturday, in the afternoon and  evening.

The play is based on the lives of a Jewish family that was sequestered for over two years in Amsterdam during WW II living in the dark annex of a warehouse, without the benefit of contact with the outside world.  This was recorded by thirteen year old  Anne, who wrote a diary. 

Anne's father, Otto Frank, played by Nate Burket, was the only member of the family to survive after they were discovered and sent to a concentration camp. He was given the diary by Miep, his office manager who found it when cleaning out the hideout apartment.

Anne, played by Jinny Pollinger listens to warnings from her father.

This thirteen year old girl, her sister and their parents shared these tight quarters with another family, Mr & Mrs Van Daan and their son Peter. It seems unbelievable, but they did it as they knew that their very lives depended on the secrecy of their existence.

Anne is wearing the fur coat belonging to Mrs Van Daan, played by Ariel Holman.

They could not run water, or make a sound during the day, as that would alert the workers in the downstairs warehouse that the annex had occupants. The windows were constantly dark, to keep their existence a secret from the neighbors.
 

Mr. Kraler played by Andrew Mades, allowed them to hide in his building and is talking with Mrs Frank, played by Hannah Fried-Tanzer.

Mr Van Daan, center, played by Bobby Glasier, listens to his wife. Others in the picture are Margot Frank, played by Maddy Murphy and Peter Van Daan, (back to camera), played by Nick Ciavarra.

The mood was always very somber and silence ruled the house during the day.

They are celebrating Hanukkah, with a toast led by Mr. Dussel, played by Drew Vollmer.

The stage crew, set designers, sound and lighting techs, painters and the entire staff are to be commended for a job well done. 

This is the church next to the facory were the famiies were hidden.  The Westminster Chimes were included in the high school production.

This is a view of the building where the Frank family were hiding, taken from the canal.

A close up of the Anne Frank house, with visitors waiting to tour the facility.

A page from the Anne Frank Diary.  Her father, in a video shown at the house commented after reading Anne's diary that "Fathers really do not know their children."

Left is a shot of the only window that was available to the hiding familes for two years.

It is difficult to understand how they were able to maintain a life under these circumstances.

On a recent visit to Amsterdam, we visited the Anne Frank house and it was a very emotional experience for all of us.

Posted in HHS, Arts.

Comment on this article | E-mail this article