The Diary of Anne Frank (One-Act Version)

A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

The Diary of Anne Frank (One-Act Version)

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  5w, 5m

By Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett
New Version by Wendy Kesselman
from her original adaptation

This 75-minute version of Wendy Kesselman's adaptation of Goodrich and Hackett's classic play interweaves survivor accounts and newly discovered writings from Anne Frank’s diary to create a contemporary, impassioned story of those persecuted under Nazi rule.

Image: 1997 Broadway Production (Joan Marcus)

The Diary of Anne Frank (One-Act Version)

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    5w, 5m
  • Duration
    Duration
    75 Minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Docudrama/History
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Teen (Age 14-18)
Accolades
Accolades
  • Winner! 1956 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
    Winner! 1956 Tony Award for Best Play
    Nominee: Five 1956 Tony Awards

Details

Summary

In this transcendently powerful 75-minute adaptation by Wendy Kesselman, Anne Frank emerges from history a living, lyrical, intensely gifted young girl who confronts her rapidly changing life and the increasing horror of her time with astonishing honesty, wit and determination. An impassioned drama about the lives of eight people hiding from the Nazis in a concealed storage attic, The Diary of Anne Frank captures the claustrophobic realities of their daily existence – their fear, their hope, their laughter, their grief.

Each day of these two dark years, Anne's voice shines through: “When I write, I shake off all my cares. But I want to achieve more than that. I want to be useful and bring enjoyment to all people, even those I've never met. I want to go on living even after my death!” This is a new adaptation for a new generation.

History
The original production of The Diary of Anne Frank opened on Broadway at the Cort Theatre on 5 October 1955, directed by Garson Kanin and featuring Susan Strasberg, Joseph Schildkraut, Jack Gilford and Dennie Moore. A new Broadway production, featuring an adapted text by Wendy Kesselman, opened at the Music Box Theatre on 4 December 1997, directed by James Lapine and featuring Natalie Portman, George Hearn, Linda Lavin and Austin Pendleton. This 75-minute adaptation of the play premiered at Nashville Children’s Theatre in September 2022.
Cast Attributes
Performing Groups

ANNE FRANK
OTTO FRANK
EDITH FRANK
MARGOT FRANK
MR. VAN DAAN
MRS. VAN DAAN
PETER VAN DAAN
MR. DUSSEL
MR. KRALER
MIEP GIES

FIRST MAN
SECOND MAN
THIRD MAN

  • Time Period 1940s/WWII
  • Setting The annex to an office building in Amsterdam, Holland. 1942-1944.
  • Features Period Costumes
  • Duration 75 Minutes

Media

“Wendy Kesselman's finely textured new Diary tells a deeper story. A sensitive, stirring and thoroughly engaging new adaptation.” – New York Newsday

“Undeniably moving. It shatters the heart. The evening never lets us forget the inhuman darkness waiting to claim its incandescently human heroine.” – New York Times

“An extraordinary theatrical adventure! Go and remember.” – New York Post

“New Diary is chillingly honest about the Holocaust. Wendy Kesselman's work has restored the terror.” – New York Daily News

“A powerful new version that moves the audience to gasp, then tears.” – Associated Press

“One of the year's ten best.” – Time

Photos

  • The Diary of Anne Frank (One-Act Version)

    Image: 1997 Broadway Production (Joan Marcus)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £40 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

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Authors

Wendy Kesselman

Besides her Tony-nominated adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank, Wendy Kesselman’s plays include The Executioner’s Daughter; The Notebook; The Foggy Foggy Dew; The Last Bridge; I Love You, I Love You Not; Maggie Magalita; Merry-Go-Round; The Shell Collection; My Sister in Th ...

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Frances Goodrich

Frances Goodrich (1891-1984) was born in Belleville, NJ and started in the theatre as an actress, making her debut with Ruth Chatterton in 1916 in Come Out of the Kitchen. She collaborated with Albert Hackett in writing the play Up Pops the Devil in 1930, and they married the ...

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Albert Hackett

Albert Hackett (1900-1995) made his New York stage debut as an actor as a little girl in Lottie, the Poor Saleslady in 1906. He appeared in productions of Peter Pan, Crime, Whoopee and The Nervous Wreck.

With Frances Goodrich, whom he married in 1931, he wrote the plays Brida ...

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