[THEATRE REVIEW] THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK @ Athenaeum Theatre Review (2026)

Without a doubt the horrors of the Holocaust were some of the greatest atrocities of all time. But through those years of terror for so many there was also hope. Out of the darkness came stories of heroism, of sacrifice, conviction and of resilience. Perhaps unexpectedly the most well known tale of which came from the ‘Diary of a Young Girl’.

13 year old Anne Frank had her young life upended just as the lives of so many others were. A normal child with friends and hopes like any other things all changed for her on the 6th of July 1942. Already seeing that things were steadily getting worse and worse her father, Otto moved his family, wife Edith, eldest daughter Margot and Anne into hiding. The cramped rooms of Otto’s former Amsterdam business now run by his close friends became known as the “secret annex”. Soon joined by 4 others the annex would be their entire world for 2 years until their capture by the Nazis on the 4th of August 1944.

The only surviving member of the Frank family, Otto returned to the annex after the Allies’ liberation of the concentration camps. Amazed at the survival of much of Anne’s diary and inspired by her desire to be an author he sought to have the manuscript published, eventually under the title ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’. Cutting a long story short the diary has gone on to be one of the most impactful documentations of those dark times in human history. Ironically all told from the perspective of a child who had been locked away for much of it.

Adaptations of course were inevidable with the 1955 play written by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich being the first successful attempt. Well success is understating it as the play went on to win a Pulitzer prize, a Tony award for Best Play and was the basis for the Oscar winning 1959 film adaptation. Now Drew Anthony Creative presents this endearing story for Australian audiences bringing the show to Melbourne’s Athenaum Theatre after a successful run in Western Australia. 

Having never read the original book myself I still have found myself effected by it. I reviewed a 2021, Ari Folman animated feature ‘Where is Anne Frank’. A touchingly sombre fantastical film where Anne’s imaginary friend ‘Kitty’ (whom she addressed her diary entries to) is materialised in modern day Amsterdam. Searching for answers to what happened to the real ‘Anne Frank’ in the wake of 70+ years of lionization and immortal legacy. 

Hackett & Goodrich’s work surely has played an enormous role in securing this legacy of building Anne Frank up as this larger than life persona. Their play being written in the mid 50s was as important as it was relevant to the continuing discoveries of Nazi atrocities. The idea of modernisation of their work might be considered heretical. Yet had it been written today it may have been presented in a different, more subtle way. It’s characters are loud and eccentric jumping off the pages of Anne’s journal to take the audience on an emotional journey. 

This is a dramatisation where there’s an emphasis on the drama. There are times where the characters fear they are about to be found out or are afraid to make a sound but this isn’t a constant. You’d wonder why they feel free to loudly run around or make a noise above a peep at all but the point is to bring out the tension, romance, heartbreak or any other emotion to the forefront. It may result in some theatrics from the cast but this isn’t to say overacting, they are just as exaggerated as the work itself calls for.

Top of the roll call is Chloe-Jean Vincent as Anne. Vincent plays the part wonderfully with a youthful amount of energy. She’s happy, bright, excited, and silly at one moment then downbeat and terrified the next. She’s much more full of life than the rest of her family and cohorts but this is her prerogative as the youngest among them. Her highs are higher just as her lows are so much lower, such as when she screams out in terror at the recurring nightmares of being taken away by the Nasis.

The rest of the cast try to keep up, dealing with this “quacking chatterbox” each in their own way. Her father, Otto (Phil Bedworth), the voice of reason of the whole group and love of Anne’s life adores his child. Older sister, Margot (Emma Smith) always seen by their mother, Edith (Holly Easterbrook) as the superior daughter has only grown the rift between Anne & Edith further. Family friends the Van Dann’s, Putti (Matt Dyktynski), Petronella (Asha Cornelia Cluer) and son Peter (Nathan Hampson) forced by circumstance to live asses to elbows with the Frank’s generate there own dramas. While romance blooms between Anne & Peter along comes Mr Jan Dussel (Jamie Jewell), a dentist making a tight squeeze even tighter.

The set design by Drew Anthony (who also directs) is magnificent with individual rooms and personal areas being apparent yet never seeming spacious or accommodating. Lighting design by Jason Bovaird dims and brightens highlighting which room is the focus of the play at any which time. The power of Anne’s diary is emphasised by a combination of these factors as voiceover, darkness and a spotlight on the diary itself physicalize it’s importance as it echoes through the years. 

In the play’s second act it’s much more noticeable that the rest of her roomates stop their background actions and witness Anne’s scribings. Her message being the reason they are all remembered now decades later among the millions of Jews who died.

The miming of certain props and not others was a little odd. I think having actual suitcases, glasses, plates etc cluttering up the stage would have fit with the compacted living arrangements. Yet costuming by Annette Stivaletta was absolutely superb with much of the cast having believably, drab and worn down clothing. But it is Anne’s red dress which she wears in act 2, (the only real vibrant colour on the stage throughout) which shows her blooming womanhood making the tragedy of the group’s inevidable discovery all the more dreadful. 

‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ the play remains a masterpiece and important part of theatre history. Who am I to question something which won a Pulitzer prize?! But I do feel that the operatic, stylised nature of some of Anne’s dialogue does portray her with such a reverence that Ari Foreman’s ‘Where is Anne Frank’ sought to examine. That we forget that she was but an innocent young girl coming of age and that is the tragedy of the (true) story.

Director-producer Drew Anthony and his cast and crew bring this well respected piece of theatrical history to Melbourne audiences with thoughtfulness. It’s a story of hope and resilience and through all the fear and despair of the Holocaust maintaining a belief in the good of humanity. It’s an important message, crucial really and it’s the reason ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ is such a beautiful work.

4 out of 5 ‘The Diary of Anne Frank is playing at Melbourne’s Athenaum Theatre until the 21st of March