The Diary of Anne Frank: A Play

The Diary of Anne Frank

• Genre: Play
• Originally Published: 2000 (adaptation)
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 7-10
• Structure/Length: Two acts; 70 pages
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Anne Frank was a 13-year-old Jewish girl living in Amsterdam in 1942 when the rising threat of Hitler and the Holocaust forced her to go into hiding with her family. The play is based on Anne’s real-life diary chronicling her experiences, hardships, and coming-of-age in a cramped space with seven other people for two and a half years.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: The Holocaust; descriptions of violence, suffering, and death; antisemitism; puberty and sexuality

Goodrich, Frances and Albert Hackett, Playwrights

• Bio: Both Frances Goodrich (1890-1984) and Albert Hackett (1900-1995) began their careers as actors and met while performing together in 1927. They began their 34-year partnership when they collaborated on their first play Up Pops the Devil, which was a Broadway hit in 1930. The following year, they married. Goodrich and Hackett are best known as screenwriters, as they spent most of their career working in Hollywood, and primarily for their musicals and comedies.  
• Other Works: Theatre: Up Pops the Devil (1930); Bridal Wise (1932); Western Union Please (1939); The Great Big Doorstep (1942); Film (highlights): Up Pops the Devil (1931); The Thin Man (1934), Naughty Marietta (1935); Rose Marie (1936); Thanks for the Memory (1938); Another Thin Man (1939); Lady in the Dark (1944), The Hitler Gang (1944); The Virginian (1946); It’s a Wonderful Life (1946); The Pirate (1948); Summer Holiday (1948); Easter Parade (1948), Father of the Bride (1950), Give a Girl a Break (1954); Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954); Five Finger Exercise (1962)
• Awards: For The Diary of Anne Frank (1955): a Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1956), the Tony Award for Best Play (1956), and the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award (1956); four Academy Award nominations for Best Screenplay (1934, 1936, 1950, and 1955); four Writers Guild of America awards (1949, 1951, 1954, and 1959)