The Diary of Anne Frank: A Play

The Diary of Anne Frank, a play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, premiered on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in 1955, only 10 years after Anne Frank’s death and eight years after the publication of her diary documenting two and a half years spent in hiding from Nazi persecution as a Jewish girl in Amsterdam during the Holocaust. The husband and wife writing team of Goodrich and Hackett were primarily known as a successful screenwriting duo, and some of their most famous films include It’s a Wonderful Life (1946), Easter Parade (1948), and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). Despite their three previous forays into playwriting for the Broadway stage, the pair’s penchant for comedy made them an unlikely choice to dramatize Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl, a first-hand account of a young Jewish teen living in hiding during the Holocaust that is at times funny, poignant, and ultimately tragic. Goodrich and Hackett’s play adaptation, which is based on both the diary and Otto Frank’s account of recovering the diary after the war, was immensely successful, garnering a Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1956. It was adapted into a film in 1959.

Despite the critical and commercial success of the 1955 play, it has also been disparaged for sanitizing Anne and her narrative. Otto Frank died in 1980, and a critical edition of the diary was published in 1986 that included material that he had removed. A seemingly uncensored version was released in 1995, but in 1998 five more pages surfaced, having been entrusted by Otto Frank to a friend for safekeeping. The revelation of these writings creates a less manufactured understanding of Anne through her own words. In 1997, a new Broadway production endeavored to do similar work by attempting to rectify some of the issues of the original. American playwright Wendy Kesselman revised and adapted the Goodrich and Hackett script to include some of the later-released diary material and emphasize the brutality of the Holocaust in the outside world. The production starred a 16-year-old Natalie Portman as Anne, and the revised play still endeavors to provide a more complete portrait of the young teen behind the words.

This study guide references the text and pagination of the acting edition of the 1997 version of the play, revised by Wendy Kesselman and published in 2000 by Dramatists Play Service. References to the 1955 version of the play use the 1970 edition, published by Blackie & Son Limited.

Content Warning: This play includes graphic descriptions of violence during the Holocaust.

Plot Summary

The play opens in Amsterdam on July 6, 1942. Thirteen-year-old Anne Frank, her sister Margot, and her parents, Otto and Edith Frank, arrive in the Secret Annex, a hidden space in the building that houses Mr. Frank’s business. They are Jewish, Amsterdam has been under Nazi occupation for two years, and they plan to hide in the Annex until the war ends with the help of Mr. Frank’s business partner Mr. Kraler and his secretary Miep. They are sharing the space with Mr. and Mrs. van Daan and their 16-year-old son Peter, as well as Peter’s cat Mousche, which delights Anne. The workday in the offices below will start soon, and to avoid detection they must be silent during working hours between eight and six. Everyone is exhausted and somber except Anne, who sees hiding as a new adventure. However, when she starts to go downstairs to get a pencil to write in her diary, her father makes clear the gravity of the situation and that she can’t leave at all. Throughout the play, Anne narrates as she writes in her diary. Mrs. van Daan complains about the limited variety of food in the kitchen, but the families must be fed on illegal ration cards. Then the clock chimes, and it’s time to be silent. Two months pass, and the families have a routine. The workday finally ends, and they can move around. Anne tries to tease Peter playfully, but he only gets angry. In close quarters, they annoy each other, but their day-to-day squabbles are punctuated by sudden fear at the sound of a siren nearby. Miep and Mr. Kraler show up and ask if they can take in another person, a Jewish dentist named Alfred Dussel. They agree to make room for him.

When Mr. Dussel arrives, he tells them about the horrors of the world outside and the Jews who are being taken without warning, including the family of Anne’s longtime friend Hanneli. Months later, Hitler has taken the unoccupied parts of France, and Anne is waking up screaming from nightmares. Dussel and the van Daans are annoyed and worried that the noise will attract attention, but her parents comfort her. Time passes, and the sound of air raids fills the Annex. They are terrified and praying. More months pass and it’s Hanukah. They celebrate by lighting the candles, and Anne surprises them all with homemade gifts. Everyone, especially Peter, is touched, but arguments soon break out. They’re interrupted by a crash from downstairs. A thief is robbing the office. They freeze, but Peter knocks over a chair, and someone climbs the stairs and shakes the bookcase in front of the door. When it’s quiet, they panic and worry whether they’re still safe there. Act II begins on New Year’s Day 1944. Anne describes the changes she’s feeling with puberty, her first period, and the new desires she’s feeling for both women and Peter. Food is running low, and they all keep getting sick. Miep brings cake, which is a huge luxury, and they squabble about slicing it fairly. Mrs. van Daan hurts Anne’s feelings, and Anne leaves the room. Peter follows, and for the first time in a year and a half, they bond as friends.

Food is even scarcer, and they’re choking down rotten potatoes and kale, waiting impatiently for the British to start invading. Mr. Kraler enters and warns them that an employee indicated that he may or may not suspect their presence, and he asked for either a raise or a bribe. Later, Anne is excited to hear the Dutch Minister of Education say on the radio that they’ll be looking for documents and first-hand accounts of the war. She decides to start revising her diary into a novel immediately. Time passes, and Anne is dressing to look nice before going to spend time with Peter in the attic, which she has been doing frequently. Anne confesses to Margot that he still hasn’t kissed her. The adults gossip and speculate about their relationship. In the attic, Peter and Anne talk, and then they kiss. In the middle of the night, Mrs. Frank hears a noise and discovers that Mr. van Daan is stealing bread in the kitchen. Furious, she wants to kick him out. They all argue, but Miep interrupts with the exciting news that the Allies have finally started invading. Days later, Margot, Peter, and Anne are happily cleaning strawberries for jam in the attic and eating their fill, and the adults are enjoying a plate of strawberries while playing cards. Suddenly, a Nazi officer and two Dutch Collaborators burst in. The bustle of their capture is long and full of terror, and Anne drops her diary before they are herded out. In the last moments, Mr. Frank, the only survivor of the eight, describes in detail what happened after and how each of the others died in the camps. As the play ends, he picks up Anne’s diary from the floor.