Penobscot’s ‘Anne Frank’ a fine, flawless production

Anne Frank has been dead almost 60 years, yet the diary she kept during the months she lived in hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam continues to engage and enlighten millions of new readers. Over the years, “Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl” has been published in edited, censored and unexpurgated versions.

Recently, the Pulitzer-winning 1955 stage adaptation “The Diary of Anne Frank” was reworked by Wendy Kesselman to add material from the original diary. Penobscot Theatre Company’s production using that script is almost flawless and a shining example of what can happen when producing artistic director Mark Torres has adequate funds and talent to put into a show.

Greg Mitchell’s set, which reaches into the rafters of the Bangor Opera House, is stunning. While the wooden latticework gives the appearance of hope rising out of horror, it also suggests the shattered glass of storefronts, the branches of a tree glimpsed through a tiny hole in the attic wall and, at times, even the swastika.

Using out-of-town professionals and local performers, director Laura Schutzel creates an excellent ensemble cast that works and fits together like the pieces of a puzzle, balancing rather than overwhelming each other’s performances.

Undoubtedly the driving force in this story is Anne. Nicole Raphael captures all the pent-up energy and angst of the teenage girl, who pens her heart and soul onto the pages of her diary. Raphael beautifully portrays the dramatic and emotional roller coaster of adolescence, yet lets the audience glimpse the adult Anne might have become. The young actress is entrancing in the role, and without her intense and intelligent performance the production likely would have fallen flat.

Jay Doolittle and Alison Cox play Anne’s parents, Otto and Edith Frank, while Jennifer Fine portrays her sister Margot. Through his performance Doolittle shows where Anne gets her hope and energy. The actor gives no hint that Otto Frank would be the lone survivor of the eight Jews who hid together for two years before being betrayed. Cox’s portrayal of Edith’s despair is palpable and Fine brings dimension to a character that often fades into the woodwork.

Jeff Pagliano, Sofia Patience Wilder and Tom Crutcher play the Van Daan family, which joins the Franks in hiding. Pagliano brings a sensitivity to Anne’s first love, Peter, that makes him more adorable than he probably was. Wilder and Crutcher’s domestic battles are hysterically pathetic, yet will feel familiar to most married couples.

Putnam Smith is 10 years too young to be the dentist Mr. Dussell, but somehow his portrayal generates sympathy for the priggish, selfish man with whom Anne must share a room. Amy Cain and Adam Kuykendall round out the cast as Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler, who are the Jews’ only link to the outside world. Cain’s Miep brings sunshine and hope to the characters and the audience every time she steps on stage.

PTC is using this production to educate as well as entertain. A traveling exhibit from the Holocaust Human Rights Center of Maine that includes interviews with Holocaust survivors is set up in the lobby and drawings by area schoolchildren adorn the walls. Both remind theatergoers that they are not watching fiction.

Anne Frank’s story still packs a wallop, and in PTC’s hands it is sensitively and beautifully told. This production is one of the finest staged by the company since Torres took the reins nine years ago and shows theater’s powerful ability to teach new generations and remind older ones of the people sacrificed to the Holocaust.

“The Diary of Anne Frank” will be performed through Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Bangor Opera House. For more information, call 942-3333.