When Chloe-Jean Vincent steps onto the Sydney stage to embody Anne Frank, it will mark her inaugural visit to the iconic harbour city. The talented actress, hailing from Kwinana, south of Perth, has recently returned from a deeply personal pilgrimage to Amsterdam. There, she walked the hallowed ground of the Secret Annex, the clandestine refuge where Anne Frank and her family lived in hiding from Nazi persecution from 1942 until their tragic arrest in 1944. Vincent’s journey also took her to various sites significant to Anne’s childhood, including the neighbourhood where she grew up and the schools she attended.
Vincent, who has been described as a “lifelong scholar” of Anne Frank’s life and work, has already captivated audiences with her portrayal of the young diarist. Her performance was met with a sold-out season in Perth and garnered critical acclaim during a subsequent run in Melbourne. Her arrival in Sydney comes at a particularly poignant and challenging time for the local Jewish community, still reeling from the devastating terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach on December 14, an event that claimed the lives of 15 people, including a young 10-year-old girl.
“We are a community in grief at the moment,” Vincent shared, her voice heavy with the weight of recent events. “We are a community living in fear at the moment.” She acknowledged the profound responsibility she feels in bringing Anne Frank’s story to the stage at this precise juncture. “But I also think that perhaps it is more important now more than ever that what Anne gave to me when I first read her — this sense of hope, this sense of light amongst the darkness, this sense of continuing on in spite of fear — maybe that’s what we need, and maybe it can be healing in some capacity.”
Vincent stresses the importance of anchoring Anne Frank’s narrative within its accurate historical context. Anne, a young Jewish girl, was born in Germany but was forced to flee to the Netherlands with her family at the dawn of World War II to escape escalating persecution. Their precarious existence took a dire turn when the Netherlands was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany, compelling them into hiding. For over two years, the family, under the guidance of Anne’s father, Otto, lived concealed in the cramped attic space above Otto’s business premises.
It was during this period of intense confinement, between the ages of 13 and 15, that Anne meticulously kept a diary, harbouring a fervent aspiration to see her words published. Her diary has since become a globally recognised testament to the human spirit, studied by countless students worldwide, including a young Chloe-Jean Vincent. Her own introduction to Anne Frank’s story occurred serendipitously while studying Holocaust history in a textbook.
A Deep Personal Connection
“I was really fascinated by [the picture],” Vincent recalled, her eyes lighting up with the memory. “There was this kind of instant sense of kinship that I felt. And I was like, ‘Oh, we look alike.’ There’s just this somethingness between us.” This immediate connection propelled her to beg her mother for a copy of the book, which she devoured in a single day. “I just loved it. It was like seeing myself reflected on paper for the first time. It was just like having the friend I had always imagined.”
At the time Vincent first encountered Anne’s diary, she was grappling with significant bullying at school and found herself isolated, lacking friends to confide in. This personal experience forged a profound bond with Frank’s words. “I think her loneliness was something that I really related to,” Vincent admitted. “There were days at school when I literally would speak to absolutely no-one. So this sense of isolation that she was feeling was something that really resonated with me.”
However, it was Anne’s enduring optimism in the face of unimaginable adversity that truly struck a chord. “But I think even perhaps more so than that, it was how she then managed to hold on to hope in spite of everything that she was going through,” Vincent explained. “Like amidst utter destruction, terror, loss, isolation — much more so than I was going through — she was still so hopeful and so positive.” Vincent credits Frank’s diaries with providing her with a vital sense of perspective and inner strength. “It gave me the strength, really, to continue. I don’t know what would have happened if I hadn’t had Anne to give me that strength, to be honest,” she confessed.
An “Uplifting” Theatrical Experience
The creative force behind the production, theatre producer and director Drew Anthony, also undertook a journey of discovery, visiting significant sites in Europe, including the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and Westerbork in Northern Holland. These immersive experiences profoundly shaped his approach to the play. He attributes the decision to bring the production to Melbourne and subsequently Sydney to the overwhelming positive feedback from audiences in Perth.
“It’s a beautiful story,” Anthony enthused. “It’s an uplifting story. It’s an inspiring story.” He noted that many theatregoers approach the play with trepidation, expecting a solely somber experience. “And so many people come to it thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to be depressed. It’s going to be sad.'” He acknowledged the inherent tragedy woven into the narrative, particularly the harrowing discovery and arrest of the Frank family, a fate that is tragically known.
“But what people overwhelmingly say as they leave the theatre is, ‘I didn’t realise I would leave having watched the play and feel so inspired and so uplifted and I can’t believe I laughed throughout the play. There are such funny moments in it,'” Anthony revealed. “So it’s a really beautiful reaction because it’s such an inspiring and heartfelt story that unfolds throughout the play.”
The Diary of Anne Frank is set to open at the State Theatre tomorrow.
