Flash player is required to view weather conditions. Download

site web  

MIDDLETOWN — Thanks to "The Diary of Anne Frank," the Netherlands became one of the most famous hiding places in the world — but Middfest wants its visitors to find her story this weekend.

A new play, to be presented Saturday and Sunday in the old Swallen's building at Verity Parkway and Central Avenue, dramatizes the story of a German Jewish family that hid from the Nazis in the Netherlands during World War II. The Netherlands is the featured country at Middfest this year.

The new production, directed by Middletown actress Christine Brunner, has already found receptive audiences during early performances in Middletown, and in the Hamilton and Dayton areas. It will be performed at Middfest three times this weekend, and more performances are scheduled for the fall.

One of the cast members, Jill Evans, also teaches about the holocaust at the Kettering College of Medical Arts, but has learned something herself from playing Mrs. Van Daan, a refugee who hid from the family in the play.

"Because I know a lot about the subject, it's very easy for me to intellectualize it. But this is so overwhelming that being this woman for the past few months has not allowed me to do that ... this makes it more real for people, and more powerful," Evans said.

Philip Smyth, who plays Peter, Anne's love interest, said one of the question-and-answer periods at a recent performance was almost as long as the play.

"There was one gentlemen who had been in the Netherlands during this time period and had never read Anne Frank's diary. He was trying to hold back sobs," Smyth said.

John-Michael Lander plays the key role of Otto Frank, Anne's father who made sure the diary saw the light of day. Although the play deals with a solemn subject, ultimately there is a message of hope.

"There is just this incredible love. People fall in love with these characters while they're up there, and there's a hope that something can happen that changes everything."

A question and answer session with the cast and crew will follow each performance.

Diary of Anne Frank performances

3 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Swallen's Building, Middfest

7 p.m. Sunday, Swallen's Building, Middfest

1 p.m. Oct. 17, Boonshoft Center, 525 Versailles Drive, Dayton.

7 p.m. Oct. 17, Boonshoft Center, 525 Versailles Drive, Dayton. $5.

10 a.m. Oct. 19, Dave Finkelman Auditorium, Miami University Middletown.

*Shows free except where noted

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.