I can’t get the Diary of Anne Frank out of my mind or soul. Watching rehearsals and feeling the build-up of the PCS Theater production has given me spiritual healing – saying it’s cathartic seems to trivialize what the Director, the cast, and the crew are all about.

‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ rarely knocks on your door—not in today’s age. But now it has its moment again, and as Jessica Gollin, who plays Anne Frank, said, “Never again is now.”

And the question is – are you ready to be changed, too?

When my friend Joel Rosenwasser, whom I met over ‘Mamma Mia!’ a pre-Covid lifetime ago, said he would direct ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ at PCS Theater this spring, I knew it would be larger than life. I could hear the passion in his voice.

Typically, I like my theater to be fun, and I shy away from sad plays. Isn’t life sad enough?

Seeing the world through Anne Frank and this fantastic group of players changes you. It’s not enough to be sad; we must triumph over it. Yet, it still leaves me speechless after every rehearsal.

But now it’s time to find my words again—your invitation to witness the transformative power of ‘The Diary of Anne Frank.’ It opens Friday, April 19, and runs until May 4. Even Broadway will pause to take notice.

So, let’s embark on this journey together. Let’s step into Anne Frank’s world as it echoes in our present day. We’ll explore the timeless relevance of Anne’s diary in today’s world, and I’ll share behind-the-scenes insights, leaving you with diary notes from some members of the cast.

So here we go. Take my hand. We’re going to step into Anne Frank’s world.

Setting the Stage

Joel, a walking encyclopedia of the Holocaust, sets the stage so that his Anne Frank dollhouse (literally, that’s what his miniature set looked like) comes to life before our eyes. It’s a stage where the characters in hiding never leave.

Joel purposefully placed the attic door leading to the outside world and Anne Frank’s room flanking the stage front so we would feel trapped with them.

I felt it going to rehearsals. Whether the rehearsal was in the back office of an arcade room, in the upstairs black box theater, or in the theater itself with the stage set, you could feel the intensity, the tight quarters, the claustrophobia.

On Leap Day, I attended my first rehearsal. We were in the back room of Games on State in Media. There was just enough space in that makeshift attic with a few props and all eight characters to line up.

There were still plenty of opportunities for the cast to joke about using the “WC” (water closet)—the script frequently mentions it, and there was a real one that people could use — unscripted.

In this scene, the characters learn the schedule—they must not wear shoes, use the WC, or make any noise while the workers are downstairs from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. When we hear the sound, all the workers have left. There was no buzzer yet, but the train would whistle irreverently at the wrong time.

At the next rehearsal, the on-stage intensity increased, and the off-stage jokes lessened as the actors got more familiar with the script.

By the time the actors were in costume on the main stage, you could feel everything they were going through. There was no way of knowing they’d be backstage hugging each other afterward. You’d be too busy collecting your own emotions.

That’s when I told Joel it left me speechless. After that rehearsal, anytime I talked to Joel, he’d say, “You know that feeling you had that you were speechless? Well, it was like that last night, but even more.”

Timelessness and Timefullness of The Diaries

As Joel said, “It’s still controversial. Giving it the right presence in the community is ever important. “The anti-semitism in the world, Jews are feeling it.” He also said, “I’m pushing boundaries.”

“The show hasn’t been done here (at PCS Theater) since 1981. It took that long to bring it back.”

The world might have thrown a wrinkle in it on October 7, but Joel’s vision remained clear — “It had to be now,” Joel said.

Unveiling The Creative Vision

Joel’s calling card (as you will), his creative vision, has been based on the original Tony, Pulitzer Prize, and Outer Critics Award-winning play. He shared an article from 1956. It commented on the two most unspoken thoughts about the play: Depressing? Jewish? It addressed both misconceptions and went on to say it’s almost spiritual.

Joel said it’s hard emotionally, though there’s a lot of comedy in it. “You need the laughter because that’s the human spirit — that creates the contrast and makes it much greater.”

Essentially, Joel said, it’s a play about nothing. “They have antics, play practical jokes on one another, and punctuate the highs and lows, which pop in and out.”

And most importantly, in this version of the play, “Nobody is bad,” Joel said.

And not everybody is Jewish in this production. Take Kevin McPeak, who plays Mr. Frank. Joel said that early on, Kevin asked Joel, “Can I ask you why you want me to play this role?” And Joel said, “I can always teach you how to talk Jewish, but I can’t teach you how to act.”

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen Joel correct Mr Frank’s accent.

Joel’s passion for the project is infectious.

Take Theodora Psitos – a spitball of energy who has been on or near a stage over 40 shows in her lifetime, but as the Producer for ‘The Diary of Anne Frank,’ she is integral in maintaining Joel’s vision. “Joel’s enthusiasm is contagious. I’m an educator first, and it’s important for the arts – to share a piece of history and learn from that history — the passion pours out.”

And there was a moment when we watched Jessica Gollin wake up from taking a real-time nap. She got out of Anne’s bed, or was it Anne getting out of Jessica’s stage bed? They are inseparable.

That’s how I learned that Jessica/Anne is 19, though she could play a 7-year-old just as convincingly as the 13 to 15-year-old she becomes in Anne Frank. She missed auditions due to COVID-19. Joel had her resume and a hunch, so he held off on casting the role.

Moments In The Attic

Most people see ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ because it’s Anne’s story. Yet when you watch Mr. Frank walk into that attic alone in the opening scene, and then Miep joins him, you will feel the weight of those missing.

The Diary brings to life everyone who lived in that attic for those two years or knew of their hiding place. Everyone matters.

Everyone has their time, moment, and change—sometimes, the fewer lines they have, the more critical they become. To ensure everyone has their moment, Joel clears the stage (as much as he can) so they have their space.

No one can take away our soft spot for Anne, known as the child of the Holocaust, and Jessica looks so much like Anne; she draws you in even more. When Jessica speaks, you will hear Anne come alive.

As Joel and his cast peel back the layers of history, they challenge us to see beyond the pages of a diary or the walls of an attic, to the very heart of what it means to be human.

“And so, as the lights dim and the actors take their places, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ becomes more than just a play—it bridges past and present, urges us to reflect, learn, and grow. In every laugh, every tear shed, and every moment of silence, we find we can’t change the past or even the world today, but we can be part of the change within us.

May this journey move, challenge, and inspire you to be part of that change within you.

Are you ready?

Players In Motion – Never Again is Now! April 19 – May 4

As Joel’s passion play comes full circle—from his first role as Peter to his current role as Director—he is turning his long-held dream into a reality for us all.

He’s meticulously crafted an atmosphere where there’s no separation between the actors and the audience. From Holocaust artifacts in the lobby to the sounds of music once banned by the Nazi’s during the preshow and intermission, even the skylight in Peter’s room reminds us the time of day in the outside world, casting a blue light at night and a bright light during the daytime.

Joel won’t let the actors forget the part they play either, preshow he’ll pass around a barbed wire for them to hold. “This is what separated life from death—this electrified piece of barbed wire.”

“You’ve got one shot to do your passion piece, and I’m leaving no stone unturned,” Joel said.

“Five times a day, I start thinking about the piece, and I come to tears being emotional about what I’m thinking,” Joel said. “There’s the end of the show. The blooming love between Anna and Peter and then how scared they are when they hear the Nazi boots. They’re hiding in plain sight. They are the victims, and they were just living their life.”

Somehow, hiding in this tragedy lies a spiritual truth. Anne Frank had to leave the attic for her Diary, her spirit, to live forever. Dare we see the triumph in the tragedy?

This production invites us to step into Anne Frank’s world, to undertake a theatrical pilgrimage where “never again is now.” It’s more than a play; it’s a call to witness, to remember, and to reflect.

I can’t speak for what it will do for you, but for me, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ captured my heart.

May ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ capture yours.

Anne says it best, though, “I like to think of it—the world is going through a change. I still believe that people are still good at heart, in spite of everything.”

By show’s end, all these moments in the attic are collected in our hearts — we carry them together because we all witnessed something great and are changed by it.

May we all take this journey together—because “never again is now.”

Click here to get your tickets. https://pcstheater.org

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The Diary of:

Dear Anne,

This show means the world to me. Not only have I always dreamed of playing you, Anne Frank, but I have always felt a connection to you. On top of the pretty strong resemblance I share with you physically, we have very similar mindsets. Just like me, you are a bubbly and optimistic girl who found the bright side of every obstacle. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to tell your story in a time when it needs to be told most. People are forgetting what happened back in 1942; they are forgetting the Holocaust and its victims. Never again is now, and I am so honored to be able to tell that to whatever small part of the world that will listen through this powerful production.”

Jessica Gollin

Dear Edith Frank,

I initially auditioned because I love the scene where you finally speak up for yourself and your children. It’s an incredible show of what an amazing mother you were and how much you sacrificed. I have three kids, including a teenager, and I can’t imagine how difficult it was to raise children in such a small space. In prepping for the show, I also read and fell in love with Miep’s biography, which was a real eye-opener into the people of the annex. It made you so much more real, and I felt true heartache for you. Trying to keep a brave face when the world is falling apart, all while dealing with food scarcity, cramped living quarters, lack of soap and heat, and privacy. You were not only prisoners in the attic but heroes in your own right. We have become very close and created our own little family around yours. We truly enjoy one another’s company. Going through something so heavy together, over and over, creates a unique type of relationship I don’t know I’ve experienced before.

Erin Hall

Dear Mr. Van Daan,

You weren’t one to look at the greater good – you were a man who lived well before this all occurred and never lacked for what you wanted. Now, you’re going stir-crazy and remained focused on your creature comforts – food and cigarettes. The moment of self-realization for you is among the most powerful scenes in the play, and I’m lucky to be able to play it as an actor. You survived more than two years together – making your own community – and you suddenly realize, just as your expecting to be saved, that you’re a hindrance to that community. It’s an important piece of history that is fading back farther and farther in the rearview mirror and being forgotten or–even worse–discounted. I’m thrilled that Joel and the PCS Theater production committee decided to show it this year. It’s important to keep your memories alive–and six million more–in people’s minds. There have been nights when most of the cast is weeping or at least choked up at the end. It’s an emotional experience to be part of, and there are nights when we all feel wrung out. But the play has uplifting, sweet, and even funny moments along the way.

Glen Macnow

Dear Mrs. Van Daan,

I feel a real connection to you. We’re both very extroverted. We’re both social butterflies. So, a lot of that was easy to connect to. In the beginning, it was a little hard to connect to the constant bickering in the script between you and your husband. It wasn’t until we were really working on stage that I saw the loving connection — that loving arm you’d put around one another or his hand on your shoulder. It’s what makes you a more loving couple. As for the coat, for me, it’s the understanding that it’s one of the last things your father ever gave you before he died. It’s not so much that it’s a fancy and expensive fur coat. So when it gets sold off, it’s selling off the last piece of your father. But everyone else sees it as your attachment to your things, which is true, but it’s surface level versus a deeper connection I have to you. There are things that I have of my mother that I hold dear that don’t have much meaning to anyone else. I have a pair of hair combs –that were hers– that I wear every show I do. For me, my mother’s combs are your fur coat. As much as this is a story about Jewish people, this is a story about human people. A group of humans put in an untenable situation that we all need to relate to. This period is going further into our history; we need to remember and understand that it happened. We can’t let this happen again. And we need to remember that you are us. You were people living in real situations, living your real lives. They are all real human moments: the comedy and the silliness and the grave situation — these were all your real human moments.

Leah O’Hara

Dear Mr. Dussel,

I got drafted into this. Another actor had to drop out. He had symptoms from Covid. His memory was deficient and he bowed out. I became friends with Joel during ‘Fiddler On The Roof.’ I sat in with auditions and Joel asked me to come on board as Assistant Director. Within a week, I’m in the role. The psychic toll this takes is immense, and that’s a real thing. I’ve been going to Auschwitz a lot –many times a year. I went in with open eyes about what task we are taking on. As for your character, Mr. Dussel? You’re a survivor; you’ve been alone in the world most of your life. Then your in an intimate relationship with seven other people. You don’t like them. You don’t get them and you have no filters. You’ve got nobody. It’s up to the audience; they get to take away what they will. They’ll hone in on one character or another—just the magic of live theater. People are willing to go into a space and witness this story together, and that’s a powerful thing. Here, we go into this room, and we’ve created a world. The audience is trapped there, too. When you go to the attic, no one leaves. I try to use what funny I have.

Paul Kerrigan

New York Daily News, Sun Mar 13, 1956

If you read this far, I know you were waiting to see this photo of Joel when he played Peter.