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Stars explained: * A production of no real merit
with failings in all areas. ** A production showing evidence of not
enough time or effort, or even talent, and which never breathes any real
life into the piece – or a show lumbered with a terrible script. *** A
good enjoyable show which might have some small flaws but has largely
achieved what it set out to do.**** An excellent show which shows a
great deal of work and stage craft with no noticeable or major
flaws.***** A four star show which has found that extra bit of magic
which lifts theatre to another plane. |
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A tragic tale of hope
Words on a page: Rebecca Gill gives a memorable performance as Anne Frank The Diary of Anne Frank Swan Theatre Amateur Company **** THERE was nothing really unusual about
Anne Frank. She was a teenager who argued with a mother she felt didn't
treat her as an adult, she looked up to her father, had a sparring
relationship with boys . . . oh, and she kept a diary of her life and
feelings. It covers most teenage girls, anytime, anywhere. Had it not been for the Second World War she
might have gone to Paris and become the famous singer or musician she
dreamed of becoming, or, more likely she would have married someone like
her friend Peter, had her own children, and only her friends and
relations would ever have heard of her. And that is the strength of STAC's excellent
production of this stage adaptation. Anne and her life are ordinary as
are her parents and those sharing their hiding place, the van Daan
family and lonely dentist Dussell. It is the situation they are thrown
into that is extraordinary. The Franks, Jews, left Germany for Amsterdam in
1933 when Hitler came to power. Holland was overrun and as restrictions
on Jews increased, and the danger increased the Franks went into hiding
in the attic of the building where Otto Franks had his herb and spice
import export business, Otto, wife Edith and daughters Margot and Anne Joining them were Mr and Mrs van Daan and their
son Peter and, later, dentist Mr Dussel was given sanctuary for a day or
two – and remained until the end. We see their clashes of personality and the
moments of frustration that stem from eight people living in a confined
space, 24 hours a day with a curfew of silence from 8am to 6pm each
day,but must of all we see the attempts to live an ordinary life as best
they can for almost two years. Anne and Peter, played by Connor Haines find a growing closeness in their isolation Then, after D-Day, with liberation in sight, the
group are betrayed and Otto is the only survivor of the eight after they
are sent to concentration camps. Anne was to die in Belsen in a typhus
epidemic in March 1945. The camp was liberated by the British the
following month. In the play they are betrayed by a thief, in
reality no one was identified and there are other changes from the
original Dairy of a Young Girl, the name of the other family with
the Franks and the dentist have been changed, but the essence of the
teenager's diary, and the attempts to live a normal life in the darkest
days of the war shine through in the script from Frances Goodrich and
Albert Hackett. Through her diary, full of optimism, Anne became
a symbol of hope and even triumph. Schoolgirl Rebecca Gill gives a memorable
performance as the flighty, argumentative, talkative, over confident yet
still unsure of herself Anne. It was a performance with a maturity way
beyond her tender years. Gemma Humfress, another schoolgirl studying drama
at GCSE, was a perfect foil as the quiet unassuming Margot, introvert to
Anne's gaily extrovert. Connor Haines, another schoolboy, gives us all
the angst of adolescence as the 16 year old Peter, a loner who finds
mixing with anyone, particularly girls, difficult. His blossoming
friendship with Anne is a feature of the play. Of the adults John Horton gives a towering
performance as Otto, the quiet, confident businessman who leads from the
front while wife Edith played by STAC regular Caroline Blamey, fusses
around, as mothers should, keeping the peace. Andrew Whittle gives us a bluff van Daam,
inclined to moan while Skye Witney's Mrs van Daan obsesses about her fur
coat – the best money can buy – the wealth she once had and secretly
making sure her hubby gets a bit extra when it comes to the meagre
rations. Dentist Dussell, played by Robert Coppini is a
loner and a moaner who sees every noise as the herald of capture. Their only link with the outside world comes in
the form of Miep, played by Ellie Jarvie, who brings their rations and
the building's owner Mr Kraler played by Malc Williams – who run the
same risk as the Franks if they are caught. We know the story but director Tim Crow keeps up
a quiet and gentle tension both between the characters and the fear of
the inevitable capture and full marks to Andy Hares for an excellent set
design to give three action areas separated by lights. At times it is funny, at times moving, but it is
always excellent. To 16-02-13 Roger Clarke |
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