Another assignment I had to do last semester. No amount of words can describe the tragedies and inhumane acts taking place during this time period.  You learn so much about the different ways humans adapt to situations from this play.  I had to really did deep on this one.

Bryn Berg

SP11 THA-110-3614 Fundamentals of Acting

Character Analysis

April 27, 2011

 

Play: The Diary of Anne Frank

Character: Anne Frank

Givens

Age: 13

Birth Place: Frankfurt, Germany

Education Level: Junior High

Economic/Social Status: She is a social outcast because she is Jewish. Her family had to leave most of their valuable possessions behind, and her parents can not generate an income because her family is in hiding.

Greatest Dream: To have her freedom again, to no longer have to endure persecution, and enjoy the simple beauties of life like she used to before going into hiding.

Greatest Fear: Her family being discovered , and sent off to concentration camps.

Historical Facts about Anne Frank: Anne Frank kept a diary that became a very important piece of history, and has also helped many children receive a better grasp of understanding some of the harsh realities of World War II through a teenage girls eyes. Anne passed away at the young age of 15 from typhus in a concentration camp. Unfortunately, she would never know how many lives she would touch by recording her story.

Where and when is my character (Location, weather, time, and season)? Anne Frank is in hiding, in a secluded part of an office building. The building resides in Amsterdam. The season is summer, and it is the month of August. I would guess the time of day would either be mid morning or early afternoon since Anne is able to observe how nice the day is through a skylight.

What happened just before the scene/monologue started? Everyone in hiding is terrified because they have just realized it is Friday (a weekday), no one in the office building has come to work, and they keep hearing a telephone ring over and over again downstairs. One individual thinks that a friend helping them on the outside world is calling the phone repeatedly to warn them that the Gestapo are coming for them, and one of them even tries to leave their hiding place to answer the phone. Anne seems to tune everything out, and writes in her journal.

Other

General Relationship: Peter is someone Anne grew up with, and their families are close friends.

Specific Relationship: Anne has fallen very deeply for Peter, and they become romantically involved. Peter becomes her world.

Help/Hurt Anne Frank: Having a boyfriend makes Anne’s small world in hiding a much brighter place, and gives her a reason to keep going. Peter is very bitter about their situation, and has pretty much given up on life. He could shut Anne out, or drag her down with him into his deep depression and hopelessness.

Destination: Where/When/What

 

Objective (What does Anne Frank want from Peter right Now?): Anne wants Peter to stop being so narrow minded about their current situation in hiding. She feels that Peter is only seeing the dark side of everything, and forgetting that they still have decent people involved in their lives that risk themselves to help them each day. Anne is also trying to convey to Peter that their situation is only temporary, and wants so desperately for him to understand that if he could just try to believe in something, and have a little hope he would be a much happier person. This could also perhaps improve their budding romance that is everything to her.

What happens to Anne Frank’s world if she does not achieve her objective? Peter is pretty much the one bright spot in her life, and maybe all of the happiness she has to hold onto. If Peter were to shut her out she would no longer have romance in her life. Since Peter is the only eligible boy available in the group of people she is in hiding with, she does not have any other men to choose from. Anne may also feel very devastated if she is not able to bring Peter around because she knows his true character, and that he has many great qualities. Peter is becoming a ghost of himself because he is so angry about their situation. Anne could end up blaming herself for not keeping Peter in better spirits.

Obstacle

What is standing in the way of Anne Frank achieving her objective? Anne and Peter have different views on religion. Anne has her faith to fall back on, and still has a lot of hope, and fight left within her. Peter has essentially given up, and can not stand to be locked up in hiding one more day. Peter is three years older than Anne so he is able to see the reality of their situation in black and white. Since Anne is younger she is still very childlike, naive, and relies on her imagination to whisk her away from all her troubles. It is very difficult for Anne to convince a stubborn and angry male teenager to just “pretend” when you want to escape, or to change his view points.

 

 

To Do

What actions/tactics would I use when playing Anne Frank to achieve my objective? I would want Peter to join me, dream about me, and stand up and fight. As far as tactics I would use charm, console, defrost, enlighten, excite, glorify, inspire, reassure, revive, soothe, tempt, warm, and press.

“IF” Life experiences I will use to try to identify with Anne Frank’s character: I have three life experiences I will be using assist me in putting myself in Anne’s shoes.

1.) Since I was raised Mormon I can somewhat relate to the segregation that took place in this story. Most people have a lot of misconceptions about the Mormon religion, and will automatically write you off as a person who practices strange customs and assumes your father has twenty five wives. I see Anne’s side because my religious beliefs were very full proof in my early teens. I also see Peter’s side as I began to discover contradictions in the religion in my later teenage years, and lost my security blanket which was my faith in the Mormon Church.

2.) When I was the age of twenty stupid something I landed my first office job, and felt very out of place because I was working with a lot of extremely educated engineers. I kind of isolated myself so no one would figure out my lack of telecommunication knowledge. It was a very lonely existence, but I toughed it out because the money was good. The only people I felt comfortable with were the young men that worked out in the warehouse. One day I was informed that a guy I had a wicked crush on in my comfortable circle of co workers was interested in me as well. We were both really shy, and didn’t know how to approach the subject, but getting to talk to him each day made my world a much happier place. Long story short my work days became very dark again when I no longer was able to see him on a daily basis. I feel Anne’s world crumble if she were to no longer have Peter in her life, and she would be devastated if he shut her out.

3.) Anne sees so much potential in Peter and knows him for the wonderful person he is. The current situation has just knocked the wind out of him. I have a friend I met on line a little over a year ago that I talk to via email and facebook several times a week. My friend was featured on a PBS documentary a few years ago, and is an aspiring film maker, actor, and script writer. I feel very lucky that he shares a lot of his projects with me that are assigned to him (he is currently getting his masters degree in film), and I am blown away by his brilliance and creativity. No matter how much I tell him how talented he his, it never sinks in, and he always doubts himself. I can almost see myself as Anne trying to convince Peter to believe and hope in himself when I have these conversations with my friend. My friend is also a constant rock in my life, and always helps me when I am ready to give up on my decision to start my life over in my late thirties, work an average job, and go back to school. If I didn’t have his encouraging words I would probably be a chicken and go back to corporate American again where I was not happy. Like Anne needs Peter to keep her world afloat, my friends enlightening words keep my spirits high.