An adaptation based on the world famous Diary of Anne Frank directed by M. Safeer, will be staged in both English and Sinhala languages at the Goethe Institut, Colombo 7 on March 5 and 6 at 4pm and 6pm . The second best read book in the world The Diary of Anne Frank is brought to the Sri Lankan stage for the first time and the specialty is that it is produced in both Sinhala and English languages at the same time.
“After eight years I have directed a theatre production for Goethe Institut. This time it’s not a drama based on a German script, but on a world famous book, the Diary of a young girl; by Anne Frank. It was a great challenge to do a play just on notes written in her diary and on the other hand working on choreography. Since, I have been facing challenges for the last three decades, on this occasion, I just forgot about the difficulties and handled the job,” said the director of the play M. Safeer.
Even though it was planned from last year Safeer and his team were able to complete the work only recently. As he explains the process of converting text into a theatre performance, he says it was not an easy task.
However, with the dedication and love of his team he was able to transform it into reality within a very short span of time in both English and Sinhala languages.
He also mentioned the remarkable support and the encouragement extended by the Director of the Goethe Institut, Dr. Petra Raymond, the chief librarian Daniel Stoll and the staff of Goethe Institut to make it a reality.
The Diary of Anne Frank is all about the short life of an ordinary schoolgirl and the story may seem to be an unlikely subject for a biography. Anne’s life began just as the Nazis rose to power and ended as the Nazis were defeated. She knew almost every part of the experience; what it felt like to have Nazi soldiers invade her neighbourhood, to be branded as less than human, to live in hiding, to have a family separated into different death camps, and to be a prisoner of people who took a bizarre pleasure in cruelty. Like millions of others she knew what it felt like to be murdered, slowly, by Nazi Germany.
“Being a Muslim, I saw through Anne Frank’s Diary the agony, the mental pressure and the unease the entire society underwent after the recent Easter Sunday attack.
Anne and her family went into hiding knowing of Hitler’s anti- Jewish arrogance. In the same way parents of this country did not send their children to schools.Everyone lived in fear and under tremendous pressure.
What happened 70 years ago is repeating even today. Many inhuman acts are taking place based on ethnic, religious, caste, creed, power and class differences.
There seem to be no end to these acts. We are all engaged in an unending war. We too feel the same things that Anne felt a long time ago. Don’t we? History repeats!” said Safeer.