This article has been edited for clarification: the Frank family has not been recast as a Latino family, nor were the ICE agents depicted as Nazis.
A new play that includes a dramatic retelling of the famous story of Anne Frank and her family hiding from the Nazis is coming soon — but with a contextual twist. The story within the play will be read aloud by an illegal Latino family in California hiding from ICE.
The play will be coming to Los Angeles theaters in September. It’s being directed by Stan Zimmerman.
“Zimmerman’s unique take on the staging was inspired by the true story of a Jewish woman in Los Angeles who created a ‘Safe House’ for a Latina mother and her two daughters after her husband was deported by ICE. The characters in the attic will be played by a LatinX cast,” according to an archive of the play’s website.
The website dedicated for the play has since been deleted — however, tickets are still available on brownpaperticket.com.
“This made me think, what would happen if this Jewish woman handed out the play to families that she’s hiding and they all begin to read it aloud? Couldn’t the story of Anne Frank be extremely important today since a recent New York Times’ survey found the memory of the Holocaust is fading?” Zimmerman added, according to the site.
“The Diary of Anne Frank,” the real life story, was the posthumously published. It focused on detailing the horrors of the Holocaust as her family hid from Nazis in the Netherlands. Frank ended up dying at the age of 15.
Zimmerman was a writer for “The Golden Girls,” a producer for “Roseanne,” and a producer of “Gilmore Girls.”