Auditions

The Diary of Anne Frank

Future Notification

The Diary of Anne Frank

Four performances will run from February 15-22, 2025

Director: Gina Lupi

ACCEPTANCE THROUGH AUDITION ONLY

In-person auditions scheduled as follows:

Monday, December 9 starting at 7:30 p.m.
Actors 15 years of age and older
Wednesday, December 11 starting at 7:30 p.m.
Actors 15 years of age and older

LOCATION
All auditions will be at the Algonquin Arts Theatre, 60 Abe Voorhees, Manasquan, NJ.

AUDITION REQUIREMENTS

Please review the sides posted for the audition and be prepared to read for the roles you are interested in.
Please be able to provide all conflicts you may have between January 8 and March 3.
You must be available for all performances: February 15-22.
You must be available for all tech rehearsals: February 10-14.

ACTORS MUST FILL OUT THIS AUDITION FORM PRIOR TO ATTENDING AN OPEN-CALL AUDITION:
The Diary of Anne Frank, Audition Form

Please submit the following via this form:

Headshot
Resume

SIDES (Download as .pdf files)

CALLBACKS
In-person callbacks will be held the evening of Thursday, December 12 at 7:30 pm.

Actors will be told as to whether they should attend the callback scheduled. If the callback is a conflicting time, please indicate this on your audition form.

REHEARSAL INFO
Rehearsals will be at Algonquin Arts Theatre or in a nearby location. Rehearsals for the roles of Anne and Peter will begin the week of December 16 with a limited schedule contingent on actor availability. All other cast members will begin the week of January 6. The exact rehearsal schedule will be set once the availability of all actors is learned but will take place during weekday evenings and weekends (depending on role and when called).

BEFORE YOU AUDITION, be advised that all actors must be available for rehearsals that are to be scheduled according to the actor's role. It is mandatory for actors to be available for all scheduled evening tech rehearsals (February 10-14) and performances (February 15-22). Conflicts will not be accepted after the cast has been announced.

PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES
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SYNOPSIS
Embark on a poignant journey through history with one of the most powerful and enduring stories of resilience, family, hope, and the human spirit. Anne Frank's eloquent and deeply moving words leap from the pages of her diary to the stage. The Diary of Anne Frank remains a relevant exploration of the impact of war, intolerance, and the importance of empathy, understanding, and the pursuit of a better world.

ROLES AVAILABLE (In order of Appearance):

Anne Frank
Must play 13-15 in the annex.
Extraordinary in her hope, passion, and belief in the good in the world at the start of the show, she is innocent, precocious, and does not hesitate to speak her mind. As she matures through her time in hiding, she becomes introspective, compassionate, and ultimately eager and hopeful for a more accepting future for everyone. She does not feel close to her mother at all, but idolizes her father. She is compelled to write, documenting every moment and feeling experienced in the annex. Warm, witty, intelligent, charming, self-aware, sensitive, often impatient, sometimes a know-it-all, open, determined, easily hurt, spirited, hopeful, fun-loving, with all the longings, expectations and attitudes that adolescence brings. Though hiding and in constant fear and isolation, she never gives up.

Otto Frank
38-to-55-year-old male.
Father of Anne and Margot and head of the group living in his Annex. He leads with love and strength in all he does. Unlike Anne, he is even tempered and strives for peace in every situation. He has the resilience of a younger man but the experience to recognize the reality of the world around him. He has an upper middle-class background. He is wise, fair, loyal, attentive, patient, intelligent, soft, level-headed, optimistic, genuinely likes people. He is beloved by his workers who protect him and his family, as well as the other tenants of the Annex throughout the war. He loves Anne, but is very susceptible to her charms. He is devoted to his wife, Edith, and comforts her depression about their living conditions, the attitudes of the van Daans/Dussel, and her relationship with Anne.

Edith Frank
38-to-48-year-old female.
A lovely woman, wife and mother. She is from a wealthy German family. She is loving, moral, concerned, gracious, cultured, devoted to tradition, devastated by her relationship with Anne. Closer with her older daughter, Margot, she longs for a deeper connection with Anne. She has a bit of Anne's fortitude, however, and when pushed will make her mind known. She is barely able to cope with the demands of everyday life in hiding and the isolation. She tries hard to accommodate the lower middle-class Van Daan family whose uncouth and argumentative ways are an irritant to her and causes her to finally erupt into a rage.

Margot Frank
Must play 15-17 in the annex.
Anne's older sister. Like her mother, she is quieter, and more mature than Anne. Margot feels alone and unsure of her place in the annex. She is reserved and respectful of others. Although they are opposites, she loves and admires Anne, and longs for deeper connections to others, but does not know how to achieve them. She is obedient, frail, sickly at times, friendly, intelligent, overwhelmed by the trials of hiding. Like Anne, she longs for a friend in whom she can confide. She plays peacemaker like her father. She is a good girl and admired by all.

Putti Van Daan
45-to-60-year-old male
The head of the Van Daans, he is struggling to find his place as a second family head in the Annex. He is pragmatic and a bit harsh and bombastic. He wishes to make his wife happy, on his terms, and wants to teach his son to be more outgoing and to toughen him up during their time in the annex. He is grateful to Otto for welcoming his family into the Annex without question. He is also dour, selfish, complaining, superficial, quarrelsome, highly critical of his son Peter and of Anne, easily irritated. His transgression causes the great blow-up in the Annex.

Petronella Van Dann
40-to-55-year-old female.
She is not ready to give up her lifestyle from outside, and views the annex as simply a new locale, rather than a necessity for survival. She is a bit of a flirt. Anne calls her frivolous. She clings to her fur coast like one would cling to their very identity She hides her fear of the unknown by worrying about trite things such as Anne and Peter's growing friendship. She is loud, egotistical, talky, often crude, suspicious, bossy, moody, self-important, critical of others, manipulative, sometimes depressed. She enjoys a good laugh or story, and is more accepting of her introverted son than his father. She reveals some delusions about her younger self's popularity and looks. She thinks she is the Queen Bee in the group, chafes under her husband's control, tries to run the household. She stirs up strife! Yet she is amazingly acceptable.

Peter Van Daan
Must play 16-18 in the annex.
The Van Daan son. He is annoyed with Anne initially, but later confesses to admiring her spirit. They become good friends in hiding, He is trying to find his place - not only in the annex but in the world. He is not sure of who he will become or if he will be given the chance to find out. He has a good heart and is protective of those he loves. Awkward, immature, shy, sometimes amusing, attached to his cat. He hates his mother and father's constant quarrels. He ages from the introverted teenager to a more mature young man enjoying the company of the girls in the Annex. He and Anne share each other's first kiss, and become confidants.

Mr. Dussel
35+-year-old male.
He is a fussy dentist. He is the only one in the annex without family, having left behind his live-in girlfriend who is Christian. He puts himself first at every turn, has little patience for his roommate, Anne, and is skeptical of everyone's future. He is old-fashioned, disciplined, hypercritical, selfish, horrified at Anne's behavior, picky, unhappy with everything. He has not come to terms with his situation and is a whiny perfectionist, ungrateful, and easily irritated.

Miep Geis
25-to-40-year-old female.
She is a kind, Dutch secretary from the office of Otto Frank that helps hide the Franks, Van Daans, and Mr. Dussel. She is their connection to the outside world as she keeps them informed and supplied. She is worried, but determined to protect them. She collects fake ration cards, purchases all their foodstuffs, visits the library on their behalf, and generally tries to keep their spirits up, and sometimes brings treats. She is courageous, empathetic, compassionate, and friendly. She finds Anne's diary and saves it until after the war delivering it to Otto upon his return.

Mr. Kraler
35+-year-old male.
He helps Miep with the responsibilities of feeding and hiding the occupants of the Annex. He is an employee of Mr. Frank's company, a trusted colleague and friend. He is sympathetic to their plight, does what he can for them, and runs the company in Mr. Frank's name. He is an honest and good man who never questions his obligations to the Franks and doing what is right. He is at a loss to explain the world around him.

Cameo roles
Although these three men do not come in until the end of the show, they are exceedingly important. Those who play these parts will be given a very flexible rehearsal schedule, but time will be spent on character development and scene timing.
First Man: 30+-year-old male. German Nazi in uniform.
Second Man: 20+-year-old male. Dutchman sympathetic to the Nazi cause.
Third Man: 20+-year-old male. Dutchman sympathetic to the Nazi cause.

Future Notification

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