Production of Diary of Anne Frank at Liepāja Theater supported by the Uniting Foundation
This summer, the Liepāja Theater are working on the opening production of their 118th season – Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett’s Diary of Anne Frank, directed by Laura Groza, who has called the play’s genre ‘letters to the future’. The production is financially supported by the Uniting Foundation.
Anne Frank was born in 1929 in a Jewish family in Frankfurt, and they were forced to move to Amsterdam in 1933 due to the regime. The girl started writing her famous diary in 1942 in a hiding place in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, and she spent the next two years documenting the attempts of her family and other Jews to escape the Holocaust, describing their household, their yearnings and fears, their hopes and anxieties about the possibility of their hideout being discovered by Nazis. The diary stopped in 1944 when it did happen.
The girl’s diary was first published in 1947 and has since become one of the most published books in the world, with translations into more than 70 languages. The author has shed light on an enormous tragedy in the history of humanity. 3 approved versions have been staged on the basis of Frank’s diary. Director Laura Groza has seen them all and selected a renewed version of the original, re-worked by American author Wendy Kesselman in 1996.
‘Anne Frank is an icon of the twentieth century – she died in the Holocaust along with many other Jewish people. I see Anne as a messiah among her generation, because she not only documented events and their sequence, but also used her unconditional love to teach the world values stronger than deadly gas or bullets. That is why Anne is immortal. The poster for the performance uses an actual picture of Anne, because her smile always makes you want to smile back,’ Laura Groza says.
Anne will be portrayed by Agnese Jēkabsone, who the director had in mind when choosing a play to stage at the Liepāja Theater. Cast – Anete Rimkus, Edgars Ozoliņš, Inese Kučinska, Karīna Tatarinova, Rolands Beķeris, Kaspars Kārkliņš, Gatis Maliks, Madara Kalna, Kārlis Artejevs, Mārtiņš Kalita, Armands Kaušelis, Kārlis Ērglis.
The director has teamed up with stage designer Sintija Jēkabsone, costume designer Jolanta Rimkute, composer Anna Fišere, who has created an original score for a string quartet, harp, piano, and double bass, lighting designer Mārtiņš Feldmanis, and video artist -8. Video elements will play a crucial role in the performance as they will allow the audience to see close-ups of the actors.
‘Our wish is for the voice of love to live on even through the most inhumane of times and for it to always gently speak to each of us,’ the director adds.
The performance is included in the Theater’s season ticket, with premieres on September 14 and 15.
Tickets are available at Biļešu Serviss offices and online www.bilesuserviss.lv . Upcoming performances: September 14, 15, 21, October 9, at Liepāja Theater, Liepāja, Teātra iela 4.
Photos: Justine Grinberga
