Theatre 370 Shines With 'The Diary of Anne Frank'

With an innovative stage design and superior acting recreating one of the world's most-read books of the 20th century, 's Theatre 370 staged its initial performance of "The Diary of Anne Frank" Thursday night.

The play was originally adapted for the stage in 1959 by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett from Frank's original notes. It follows the lives of Frank (June 12, 1929 — early March 1945) and her family as they spent two years in hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands.

Jinny Pollinger played Frank, who started writing her diary at age 13 in June 1942. Frank's notes chronicle the trials and tribulations of her family and those of the van Daans, the other family hiding with the Franks. The two families lived in a secret apartment located in the warehouse at which Otto Frank, Anne's father, worked.

In addition to Anne and her father (played by Nate Burket), six other people shared the cramped living space: Anne mother, Edith (played by Hannah Fried-Tanzer); her sister, Margot (Maddy Murphy), Mr. van Daan (Bobby Glasier), Mrs. van Daan (Ariel Holman) and Peter van Daan (Nick Ciavarra).

The only thing they have is each other, Anne tells the crowd, intermittently sharing from her diary. Prisoners in their own home, the Franks and van Daans don’t think too much about escape, only the danger outside.

The eight people were kept secret by Otto Frank's colleagues, Mr. Kraler (Andrew Mades) and Miep Geis (Meg Lacey), until an unknown informant betrayed them, resulting in their arrest by the Gestapo. The Franks and van Daans were then shipped off to a concentration camp in Germany, where Anne and Margot died of typhus in March 1945.

Otto was the only member of the Frank family who survived the concentration camp. After returning to Amsterdam following the war, he was given Anne's diary by Geis, who found the notes while cleaning out the apartment the Franks and van Daan's had lived in. Otto then managed to have the notes compiled and published by an Amsterdam firm in 1947.

The theme director Brian Hickey chose for this year’s fall and spring plays - the extreme pressures in countries surrounding Germany during the reign of the Third Reich - were artistically complementary of one another. Whereas this fall’s musical, "" - which was also set against the backdrop of Nazi occupation - had the nuns and other characters running through the crowd, this production had risers on the sides and front of the stage, creating a black box theater effect.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" also featured somber dialogue, contrary to the fall musical's mostly upbeat songs and banter.

Small bits of timeline information were also thrown in, helping the crowd feel the family's family’s predicament.

“I think the show is going to be incredible. It’s a jack of all trades. It’s going to be awesome,” said Haley Bouley, acting stage manager.

Prior to the show, Hickey was “very excited. They had a terrific run-though (Wednesday) night. Superstition Theater, if you had a bad dress rehearsal, then the show won’t go good.”

Don’t worry, Mr. Hickey. Superstitions aside, the show was fantastic.

The set was clever and efficient, with cutaways of different rooms. The kitchen was at center stage and the bedroom at stage right with a walkway to the precipice at stage left, above which the light and sound booth were visible.

Pollinger as Anne Frank was exceptional and Burket’s Otto Frank was poignant and believable.

“I thought it was really good. Any mistakes, I didn’t notice. Everyone did a good job staying in character,” said Ciavarra.

“I think it went really well. I’m very proud of everyone. I think they did a great job. Everything worked out really well,” said Holman, whose Mrs. Van Daan was electrifying.