Anne Frank staged in Wonthaggi
A CAPTIVATION with the story of Anne Frank has led former Leongatha man Josh Gardiner to his directing debut with the Wonthaggi Theatre Group.
The Diary of Anne Frank will be performed from August 19 to 27 at the Wonthaggi Union Community Arts Centre.
In German-occupied Amsterdam during World War Two, the Frank family had gone into hiding.
Living in very small confinement, Anne Frank dreamed of immortality as a writer. Little did she know her teenage diary would make her one of the most powerful voices in literature.
“Since I was a young teenager the Holocaust and in particular the story of Anne Frank has captivated me,” Josh said.
“In December last year, I finally ventured over to Amsterdam to visit the house and see a humungous production of the play; The Diary of Anne Frank.
“I returned home completely inspired. It is such a delicate topic that can educate and captivate minds of all ages.”
Josh said he wanted to direct an original staging of the hard-hitting play – encompassing a mix of contemporary and traditional elements to make it speak to all supporters of WTG.
His aim is to incorporate music and multimedia into the production, “to really detail how horrendous Europe was during the Nazi regime”.
The cast features Cluanie Swanwick as Anne Frank, Simon Furniss as Otto Frank, Bron Kalos as Edith Frank and Jaz Hendry as Margot Frank.
Other cast members include Brad Boucher as Mr Van Daan, Jaz Kaye as Mrs Van Daan, Adam Turner as Peter Van Daan, Brad Beach as Albert Dussel, Georgia Kaye-Helmot as Miep Gies, Aidan Clark as Victor Kraler and Jack Boterill, Finnian Donohue and Isaac Muldoon as Nazi officers.
“My overall vision for the play is to strip back the smoke and mirrors of the theatre experience and focus intensely on the human condition and what it is capable of,” Josh said.
“Even though the story of Anne Frank is more than 70 years old, it is still so relevant today.
“Anne is as a 13 year old girl and is the same as any 13 year old girl today. She is a human and essentially a refugee, trying to find somewhere to be safe.
“It is not a political piece, but it provides a snapshot of how something can come from fear and how innocent people react to it and learn from it.”
Tickets for the production are now on sale, go to www.wtg.org.au.
Show time: the cast of Wonthaggi Theatre Groups’ production of The Diary of Anne Frank includes from left, Georgia Kaye-Helmot, Brad Boucher, Jazz Hendry, Simon Furniss, Cluanie Swanwick, Bron Kalos, Jaz Kaye, Adam Turner, Brad Beach and Aidan Clark.
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Aug 16 2016. Filed under Arts & Entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
