In this transcendentally powerful new 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.

COF’s staged reading features local student actor Anabelle Lewis in the title role of Anne, COF season apprentice Chris Henderson as Peter, as well as local actors David Janeski, Chloe Khosrowshahi, Christine Leslie, Ward Loving, Rich Rush, Joel Vilinsky, Aly Wepplo and Patsy Wygle. The reading is directed by COF Company Artist Claudia McCain.

Each performance will be followed by a post-reading conversation with Jeannette Ringold, who was separated from her family and hidden by the resistance as a child in Holland during World War II. As an adult, Ms. Ringold has shared her experience in California schools, making the Holocaust real through her personal story. 

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

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

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

*Part of The Center’s BIG IDEA project This Land is Whose Land?

The Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Company of Fools’ staged reading of The Diary of Anne Frank is produced in partnership with the Wood River Jewish Community and St. Thomas Episcopal Church.

The readings have been generously supported by Carol P. Nie, Wood River Jewish Community Board of Directors and St. Thomas Episcopal Church.