The show was developed at the request of the nonprofit Anne Frank Foundation, which was founded in 1963 by Anne Frank's father, Otto Frank. The play, which will offer translations in seven different languages, will debut in May.
Produced by Kees Abrahams and Robin de Levita, the play is the second stage dramatization of Anne Frank's diaries that has been performed under supervision of the copyright owners.
The first adaptation, The Diary of Anne Frank, was written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and opened in 1955. It was later adapted into a film by the same name.
"The play is the first one which is based on all original documents and writings of Anne and Family Frank," Yves Kugelman, a member of the board of the Anne Frank Foundation, told JTA. He said the foundation developed the script and supervised its historical accuracy.
"They did a marvelous job but wrote the play in a different time and based on a selection of materials made by Anne Frank's father," Leon de Winter, the Dutch Jewish novelist who wrote the new show's script with his wife, Jessica Durlacher, told the JTA. "Jessica and I were privileged to gain access to many additional materials, the entire archive, and to broaden the scope to include what happened before and after the deportation." Royalties from ticket proceeds will go toward the Anne Frank Foundation's educational work and charity projects for Jewish and non-Jewish causes.
The Anne Frank Foundation is the sole owner of copyrights of writings of the Frank family, including the hugely famous diary of Anne Frank from her days in hiding in Amsterdam.
Visit annefrank.ch/foundation.html for more information.