Diary

Goodrich and Hackett's play is based on Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl; thus, it posed the challenge of creating a cohesive narrative out of a series of personal reflections. Instead of being overwhelmed by the disparate nature of diary entries, the playwrights transform the diary into a narrative vehicle. They introduce the families and the hiding place with Anne's diary entry about the day she and her family left their home. Almost every scene in the play ends with Anne's voice, reading from her diary. These excerpts serve multiple functions of reminding the audience of the play's basis, giving Anne's voice a chance to come through, and allowing the playwrights to summarize events that have taken place between the individual scenes. Anne's diary entries cover such topics as her relationship with her mother, the atmosphere within the attic, and events taking place in the outside...