Playhouse on Park, West Hartford, CT
through November 19, 2017
by Barbara Stroup
 |
| Photo by Curt Henderson |
Multiple rooms on two levels, a loft, stoves, table, sink,
six beds, dining table and chairs, are all on view to the audience as they
enter Playhouse on Park for this superb production of “The Diary of Anne Frank”
– making the claustrophobia apparent even before the play begins. The Frank and
Van Daan families shelter here for over two years in their doomed attempt to
avoid Nazi persecution.
Concentration shifts quickly from the set however, when Anne
enters. Isabelle Barbier, a -mature 26-year-old, is perfectly cast. She
captures the voice, motions, and physical presence of the 12-year-old who
enters the annex, as well as the maturing adolescent who struggles with the emotional
and hormonal changes that soon follow.
As Otto Frank, Frank van Putten embues his character with
qualities ranging from calm, gentle authority to the optimism his family needs
to maintain their own sanity. The Van Daan couple are played by Lisa Bostnar
and Allen Lewis Rickman. Through their occasional quarrels that shock the quiet
Franks, these actors are able to show both the complexity of their own despair
and their conflicted attachment to each other and their son, Peter. Dussel was
a dentist who joins the families later, and is ably played by Jonathan Mesisca.
Alex Rafala as Peter Van Daan, becomes Anna’s focus as her
adolescence begins. He has also become captivated by her, and in the most
touching moment of their connection, affirms her with “You’re pretty”-- how one
hopes Anne might have heard those words from a “beau” this one time. Edith
Frank’s worry and desperation for her family are beautifully portrayed by Joni
Weisfeld, and Ruthy Froch confidently presents Anne’s sister Margot as the quiet,
well-behaved foil to Anna’s ebullience.
A Hanukkah celebration cements the work of this fine
ensemble, when all seem to let the holiday help them accept their pseudo-family
arrangement. Joel Abbott’s sound design puts a sudden and shocking end to the
joy, and his contributions throughout the play enhance the atmosphere and the
foreboding. The director also “staged” the intermission in a way that hammers
home the theme of boredom in confinement.
The play now ends with a monologue by Otto Frank that details
the horrific fate of his family after the Nazis have seized them. In a talkback
after the performance, we learned that this was one of Wendy Kesselman’s
changes to the original 1950’s script. By his own account after the war (he was
the only survivor), Otto Frank had twice requested – and was refused - United
States asylum for his family. The red plaid diary became his focus for the rest
of his life, and has been read by 30 million people.
