"Anne Frank" Lives On Stage at The Walker School

[Photo: Gillian Stoltz as "Margot" and Katrin Surkan as "Anne", Anne's movie - star pin - ups in the background (from the Walker School's Facebook page)]

We left the theatre after The Diary of Anne Frank feeling uplifted by affection for the characters and inspired by the power of creativity and kindness to make life where none would seem possible.

But we had entered the tiny Mozley Studio Theatre at The Walker School feeling trapped. The set, as oppressive as impressive, was designed by Mr. Bill Schreiner from ideas that director Mrs. Katie Arjona brought back from her own pilgrimage to the secret annex in Amsterdam. A cutaway view of annex and attic filled the space so that the audience, too, felt packed together with the characters. The stage, raised to remind us that the action is up stairs, also pressed the actors' heads close to the actual ceiling of the theatre, a tight squeeze emphasized by heavy - looking artificial rafters.  To enhance our feeling of being enclosed with no escape possible, Arjona kept actors busy in character on stage even during the audience's intermission.

[Left to right: Kraler, Otto Frank, the Van Daans, and Mrs. Frank. Photo from The Walker School's Facebook page.]

The play would seem oppressive enough without the set design. Though I'd never read the book nor seen the play, Anne Frank's face and story are part of our culture, well known to me since grade school. What could it offer, besides drabness, darkness, and its characters' sad endings?

The playwrights find a rhythm in the story, cycles of dejection, anger, and accommodation to reduced circumstances. At first, the Frank family has to adjust to their tiny annex. Teenaged daughter Margot (Gillian Stoltz) is morose, and her mother (Ellie Collerton) is resentful, but Otto Frank (Carter Ezell) reassures them, and young Anne (Katrin Surkan) is ebullient, skipping around the perimeter. No sooner have they adjusted to their reduced circumstances, than the Van Daans enter the already - cramped space. Again, there's a period of adjustment, as we get to know the comically self-absorbed parents Mr. Van Daan (Jared Garvin), obsessed with food, and Mrs. Van Daan (Emmalissa Perkerson) clinging to her fur coat and her idea of elegance. They bring their shy teenaged son Peter (Caden Virant). Again, through give and take, the families reach equilibrium. Then, Otto Frank's loyal employees Kraler (Toby Allers) and Miep (Jordan Gomez) bring in another refugee, Mr. Dussel (Sean Lewis) who brings his finicky ways and, also, devastating news from "outside."

Each adjustment to worsening situation brings a breakthrough to greater understanding and compassion, mostly through the agency of Anne. She grows up before our eyes over the two years of the action. At first, Anne and her mother are estranged; Anne cannot get Peter to relate to her; she discloses her thoughts to us in the diary she keeps closed to others' prying. As Anne, Katrin Surkan was a generous actress, lavishing all her energy on others, drawing them out. In a memorable scene, she has found creative ways to make gifts for everyone at Hanukkah, each person astonished in turn. The last iteration of the cycle brings the characters to a pinnacle of love and understanding, and the inevitable end comes as a shock.

The sixth graders in my drama class appreciated so much of the play, having seen just one act. For them, that "fourth wall" was almost palpable, and those moments when Anne broke it were a relief. They learned from seeing how every actor stayed in character, engaged in some "stage business" that didn't distract us while our attention focused elsewhere. When I asked the younger actors to imitate the walks of the different characters, the sixth graders could identify each one instantly, a tribute to the actors' full - bodied characterizations.

The Diary of Anne Frank by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman. Presented at The Walker School, Marietta GA, March 6 - 9, 2019. Director, Katie Arjona. Scenic and Lighting Design, Bill Schreiner. Original Sound Design, Dan Moises Shreier; Additional Sound Design, Hayes Zierden.

ANNE FRANK Katrin Surkan
MR. OTTO FRANK Carter Ezell
MRS. EDITH FRANK Ellie Collerton
MARGOT FRANK Gillian Stoltz
MRS. VAN DAAN Emmalissa Perkerson
MR. VAN DAAN Jared Garvin
PETER VAN DAAN Caden Virant
MR. DUSSELL Sean Lewis
MIEP Jordan Gomez
MR. KRALER Toby Allers
ENSEMBLE Dylan Alfi, Mason Duecker, and Ronan Ezell