Raven Performing Arts Theater delves into Anne Frank’s teen angst

It’s a story we know all too well: between 1942 and 1944, young Anne Frank kept a diary while she was in hiding with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. After the family was captured, Anne died at age 15 of typhus at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Her diary was first published in 1947, and since then the story has been adapted for film and television nearly two dozen times, as recently as last year. The stage version premiered in 1955 and a revised version by Wendy Kesselman opened in 1997.

Clearly, the story of this young girl, arguably the most famous victim of the Holocaust, will never die. And theatrical interpretations, by delving into different aspects of her experience, continue to give it new life. The present is no exception.

The newer version of the play restructures the story while remaining true to the original diary, said Diane Bailey, director of new Raven Players production of the Kesselman version of the play, opening tonight at the Raven Performing Arts Theater in Healdsburg,

“This version elongates some of the scenes, especially one with Anne and her mother, where they don’t get along and they’re having some issues, which is not portrayed in the original play,” Bailey said.

This production shows that Anne (played by Claire Lentz of Brisbane) could be a typically difficult teenager, the director said. Another scene has Anne speaking out about coming of age and her sexuality.

“This is more true, apparently, to what Anne Frank was really like, if you read all the information about her,” Bailey said. “She was way ahead of her time. She was very vivacious and outspoken. Her friends and her parents, because they were brought up in typically strict Jewish households, were flabbergasted by her outspokenness.”

One reason Anne Frank’s story remains so powerful is that she wasn’t a hardened solider, a general or a spy - the stuff of traditional war stories.

“She was a young girl, and she was so positive and full of life and exuberance. She was feisty,” Bailey said. “That comes through in this play when you realize she died so young.”

Anne was not a saint, and scholars have debated whether she would consider herself a martyr, but as a historical diarist, she is more relevant than ever.

Earlier this year, the National Review magazine noted an apparent increase in anti-Semitic incidents. As of late February, 69 threats had been called into 54 Jewish Community Centers in 27 states and a Canadian province since Jan. 1. The Washington Post reported 48 bomb threats in January.

Bailey said the Anne Frank story remains particularly powerful for her because she has been visiting Amsterdam since 1987 and lived there in 2000.

“We lived around the corner from the Anne Frank house. Every day, I’d walk and I’d walk by the museum at her house. There were thousands and thousands of people in line every day, rain or shine. Still her story resonates,” Bailey said.

“I visited her house and it was very hard-hitting. You go up to her attic where her family hid. These people lived in very close quarters for two years. It struck me that they had no privacy.”

Actors were enthusiastic about joining the production, Bailey said.

“The interest in being in the play was exceptional. Everybody wanted to do it,” she said. “We have several Jewish folks in the show. We have one fellow that taught all the Hebrew prayers and songs to the cast.”

You can reach Staff writer Dan Taylor at 707-521-5243 or dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @danarts.