THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

All That Remains

At: The Swift Creek Mill Theatre, 17401 U.S. Route One, Chesterfield, VA 23834

Performances: January 25 – February 15, 2025

Ticket Prices: $44-49. Ask about discounts for students, seniors, and veterans.

Info: (804) 748-5203 or https://www.swiftcreekmill.com

A Theater Reflection by Julinda D. Lewis

Let’s be clear, this is not an easy production to see. I can only imagine how the cast manages to perform The Diary of Anne Frank day after day, night after night. It was so deeply moving that after a Wednesday matinee performance going out into the welcoming sunlight of an unseasonably warm winter day seemed surreal and a bit irreverent.

This is a script based on the diaries of Anne Frank, written when she was only 13-15 years old and she along with her family spent more than two years in hiding in Amsterdam while Hitler’s army occupied Amsterdam. Occupied seems too gentle a word. Todd A. Schall Vess has designed a simple but layered set that appropriately captures the era. While the quarters may be camped for seven people, the set appeared more spacious than the scene I imagined in my mind’s eye.

The need for quiet

The lack of privacy

The terror of footsteps

The updated script, Producing Artistic Director informed us during his pre-show curtain talk, contains material that was not available for the original production. This is Swift Creek Mill’s fifth production of The Diary of Anne Frank but my first experience with the play.

Kudos to Director Debra Clinton and this phenomenal cast for having the courage to take us on this journey at this point in time. The Mill chose this production more than a year ago, when they could not have known how relevant it would be in January 2025.

Ayla Clinton stepped into the shoes of the lead role, Anne Frank. Their youthful enthusiasm, so out of place, was a ray of sunshine in this battle against spiritual darkness. Kendall Walker played Anne’s sister, Margot – more subdued and therefore more socially acceptable – and Jeff Meisner and Emma Mason carried the roles of Anne’s parents, Otto and Edith with dignity beyond understanding. We see them as loving, educated people, someone you might like to have as neighbors in another life.

The Frank family shared their hiding place with the Van Daan family. Sara Heifetz and Fred Kaufman took on the roles of a bickering couple whose sometimes embarrassingly public revelations of one another’s shortcomings added a bit of much needed humor while a growing friendship between their shy son Peter, played by Trace Coles and the exuberant Anne provided a subplot of optimism and romance that fueled a false hope that things might turn out differently this time around.

The enmity between the Van Daan’s was also quite realistic, and I loved the authenticity of the complicated relationship Heifetz and Kaufman depicted in their roles. Mrs. Van Daan’s reluctance to give up her wholly impractical fur coat was not about materialism – it was about holding on to the only existing reminder of her father. The tears started to form when Heifetz uttered the deceptively simple line, “If you’re hungry, just hold on to me.”

Thinner.

Paler.

A lot hungrier.

Taylor Baltimore’s role as the engineer and manager of the makeshift refuge might be considered a supporting role, but it was so essential. When Miep came, she didn’t bring just food and books, she brought the breath of life. It was temporary and insufficient, but it was all they had. When Miep introduced Mr. Dussel, a dentist played by Eddie Webster, into the already tense and crowded community, the delicate balance temporarily tipped, and it took a while for the group to reestablish equilibrium. Thinking, again, of our world today, there are so many lessons to be learned from this story – and from the careful handling of it by Director Clinton and this phenomenal ensemble.

But for all their hard work, they could not change history. The final transport left on September 3, 1944. The destination – the extermination camps. And for all the hope, the prayers, the tears, the love, the sacrifice, the loss, the lack…

All that remains…

…the cast stood quietly

…some audience members stood and clapped, the most subdued applause ever

…some sat weeping

…never…again…

…dear G-d, never again…

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Julinda D. Lewis, EdD is a dancer, minister of dance,  teacher, and writer who was born in Brooklyn, NY and currently resides in Eastern Henrico County. When not writing about theater and dance, she teaches dance history at VCU and low impact dance fitness classes to seasoned movers like herself and occasionally performs.

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THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK

By Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Newly adapted by Wendy Kesselman

Directed by Debra Clinton

CAST

Anne Frank   …..      Ayla Clinton

Otto Frank    …..      Jeff Meisner

Edith Frank   …..      Emma Mason

Margot Frank…..     Kendall Walker

Miep Gies     …..      Taylor Baltimore

Peter Van Daan…..  Trace Coles

Mr. Kraler      …..      Mike White

Mrs. Van Daan…..    Sara Heifetz

Mr. Van Daan…..     Fred Kaufman

Mr. Dussel     …..      Eddie Webster

First Man       …..      Mike White

Second Man …..      Bent Deekens

Third Man     …..      Austen Linder

Voice Actors …..      Roger Price, Meg Price, Melissa Johnston Price

CREATIVE TEAM

Directed by Debra Clinton

Scenic Design by Todd A. Schall-Vess

Lighting Design by Joe Doran

Costume Design by Maura Lynch Cravey

Technical Direction by James Nicholas

Sound Design by James Nicholas

PRODUCTION STAFF

Producing Artistic Director …. Tom With

Technical Director ….. James Nicholas

Stage Manager ….. Sandy Lambert

Assistant Stage Manager/Props ….. Tom Width

Light/Sound Board Operator ….. Brent Deekens

Set Crew ….. R Jonathan Shelley, Peter Proust, Brent Deekens, Christopher Samoski

Scenic Painter ….. Amber Kilpatrick

Lighting Crew ….. Brent Deekens, Alleigh Scantling

Photographer …..Daryll Morgan

Setting:

The play takes place on the top floors of the annex to an office building in Amsterdam, Holland, during the years of World War II.

Run Time:

About 2 hours with 1 intermission

Tickets:

Regular $44-49. Discounts for Seniors, Military & Veterans

Photographer: Darryl Morgan