First I must apologize for the tardiness of this post; I saw the performance nearly a month ago! But alas my intense schedule in March, coupled with the Blogger app's reluctance to save the previously written post, conspired to set me back.
This was a world premiere of the new play by Sobler, which begins with the question of what might have happened to Anne Frank's diaries had she not been killed in the holocaust, but rather survived the war in the attic, then emigrated to Brooklyn. We see Anne, Margot and Peter as young-ish adults with jobs, houses, responsibilities. Margot is engaged, Peter has a sweetheart but continues to be caught on Anne, and Anne, still the proud owner of her diaries, is intent on having them published. In the early scenes, the connection between the 3 from the attic is clearly created, and as we see new "modern" characters introduced in the form of Anne's potential publisher and her boss-turned-husband we see the difference this solitude has made in their ability to encounter the world.
Frustratingly, the text is a bit heavy handed and just a little repetitive with Anne's constant "do you remember the attic" queries to everyone around her. We can see, rather than be told about, Anne's obsession with informing about the past while confronted with a 1950s New York City that just wants to keep rushing forward. The new characters are uneven; Michael, Anne's husband comes across as more than just a little creepy. In contrast, the publisher is every inch the image of the 1950's career woman, bringing us an image of what Anne might have been under different circumstances.
The performances were strong, and ably guided by Heidi Malazdrewicz making her directorial debut for MTC, and Charlotte Dean's design of the production was stunning.
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