Among the great names associated with humanitarianism and voices for peace and understanding in the 20th century, Anne Frank is numbered among other names like Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr and Mahatma Gandhi. Her diary, written in the middle of World War II while she and her family were in hiding from the Nazis, has been translated into more than 60 languages and read by schoolchildren worldwide.
It’s a story that’s timeless — which is exactly what attracted Ten Bucks Theatre Company’s Ben Layman to it. The local theater group will stage the theatrical adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” Nov. 6-7 and Nov. 12-15 at Comins Hall on Route 9 in Eddington.
Initially, however, it was Matt Bullard, a 15-year-old Bangor High School that is a member of the company, that suggested the idea of staging “Anne Frank.” Bullard is officially listed as assistant director for the production.
“Part of our mission statement as a company is to foster new artists, and I decided to help Matt get it off the ground,” said Layman. “The company felt that it was a compelling choice and we went from there. The subject matter is tough, but it’s a story that still very much deserves to be told.”
The version of “Anne Frank” Ten Bucks will stage is the late 1990s Wendy Kesselman version, which is based on the original 1950s adaptation by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. The role of Anne will be played by two young actresses; William S. Cohen School student Emma Paterson-Dennis of Bangor and Hampden Academy student Morgan Wiercinski of Hampden will switch off throughout the show’s run. Anne’s mother and father, Otto and Edith, will be played by Randy Hunt and Andrea Littlefield, respectively, and her sister Margot will be played by Moira Beale. The 11-person cast is rounded out by Kathryn Ravenscraft, Brogan Kelly, Nathan Roach, Irene Dennis, Stephen Estey and Garrett Fitzgerald.
“The message of the play to me is hope and love in the face of adversity. Love is the most powerful and transformative emotion. Hope alone can keep us alive,” said Layman.
The show will be staged once again at Comins Hall in Eddington, a.k.a. the Eddington-Clifton Civic Center, which has housed a number of Ten Bucks Theatre productions over the years, most recently an adaption of “The Turn of the Screw” in November 2014. Comins Hall, built in 1878, is in the midst of an ongoing fundraiser to renovate the historic community center; the “Restore Our Windows” project aims to restore all 54 windows in the building, which were originally installed in 1897.
In addition to directing “Anne Frank,” Layman can also currently be seen in Penobscot Theatre’s production of “Dr. Cerberus,” in the lead role. How one man is able to juggle both directing a play and starring in a three-week long run in a professional theatre is likely beyond the comprehension of most non-theater people. Layman, however, is typically modest.
“I have a fabulous stage manager, Tracy Green, who has been putting the cast through their paces while I’m rehearsing,” he said. “That, and a cast who truly trusts me! Free time is non existent, but this is what I do. It’s what I love. It’s worth it.”
Tickets for all performances are $10; shows are at 7 p.m. except Sundays, which are at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the door or online at tenbuckstheatre.brownpapertickets.com, until three hours before showtime.
“Life in a Jar” play to be staged in Hampden
Also themed around the tragedy of the Holocaust — yet ultimately full of hope and redemption — is the touring production of “Life in a Jar: The Story of Irena Sendler,” which will be performed at 1 and 5 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8 at the Hampden Academy Performing Arts Center. The performances are free, though donations will be accepted. Groups can reserve seats together by calling Allison Berube at 852-2011.
Comprised of a seven-member volunteer cast from Kansas, this traveling stage production re-tells the story of Irena Sendler. For 100 days in 1942, this young, heroic Polish Catholic social worker combed the war-ravaged Warsaw Ghetto, risking her life to save 2,500 Polish Jewish children from the Nazi death camps.
Sendler convinced countless Jewish parents and grandparents into making an agonizing decision — to relinquish their children to her in order that she might secret them away to a safe place, lest they die in the Ghetto or in the death camps. Many of these parents knew that the Nazis were coming to take them away, and their best hope in at least saving their children was to give them up to Sendler — knowing they might never see them again.
Sendler smuggled the kids and babies out to safe convents, orphanages and adoptive homes, often hiding them in coffins or boxes, risking her life in the process. She and her network made
lists of the childrens’ real names and put the lists in jars, then buried the jars in a garden, so that someday she could dig them up and find the children to tell them of their real identity.
Her story has been retold in a bestselling book and in a Hallmark TV movie, and with this play, “Life in a Jar,” written by Kansas schoolchildren in 1999. Sendler was honored by the nations of both Israel and Poland, and in 2007 was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She died in 2008.
