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A review by duffypratt
The Diary of Anne Frank: And Related Readings by Frances Goodrich
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Almost the entire force of this play comes from the foreknowledge that the characters are doomed. Anne will be captured. She will get sent to a concentration camp. And she will die there. Of course, all of that happens after the action of the play.
So what is the play itself about? Not much. The captives in the attic try as best they can to live their lives. We see them go about ordinary things, only again and again to be interrupted by some news of the outside world -- sometimes terrifying, sometimes hopeful. But for the audience, the news is almost always inconsequential, since we already know.
Thus, the meat of the play needs to be in the development and interrelationship between the characters. And I suppose that is OK, but not particularly good.
To be fair, the same criticism can be leveled at Frank's diary. But she wasn't writing the diary to create an impact on based on her ultimate capture. We may read it that way, but that wasn't what it was about. Rather, the diary puts a very human face on just one of the ways that people became victims during the Holocaust. In that respect, I think the diary and its effect are entirely different from this play.
So what is the play itself about? Not much. The captives in the attic try as best they can to live their lives. We see them go about ordinary things, only again and again to be interrupted by some news of the outside world -- sometimes terrifying, sometimes hopeful. But for the audience, the news is almost always inconsequential, since we already know.
Thus, the meat of the play needs to be in the development and interrelationship between the characters. And I suppose that is OK, but not particularly good.
To be fair, the same criticism can be leveled at Frank's diary. But she wasn't writing the diary to create an impact on based on her ultimate capture. We may read it that way, but that wasn't what it was about. Rather, the diary puts a very human face on just one of the ways that people became victims during the Holocaust. In that respect, I think the diary and its effect are entirely different from this play.