Making Frank intense

AUTHENTICITY is so important to a village dramatic society that the director, cast and crew travelled to Amsterdam earlier this month to put their next production in context. Wheathampstead Dramatic Society (WDS) is putting on The Diary of Anne Frank in February and a special tour of her house in Amsterdam was organised for them by the Anne Frank Foundation. The aim was to give the cast a true perspective of what it felt like to live in hiding and in fear of your life. Said Joe Maher, a director with WDS: "This is the first time that the Anne Frank Foundation have allowed any organisation to take publicity photos at the house. They very kindly provided us with the use of gardens to the rear of the property which overlooks the annex in which the Frank family lived." The Diary of Anne Frank, which is being performed in the Memorial Hall in Wheathampstead at 8pm from February 16 to 18, is a play which powerfully conveys the tension, terror and suffering of the Dutch people under the Nazi regime during World War II. Set in Amsterdam, it is the story of a young Jewish girl coming to terms with her own journey into womanhood as she and her family and four of their friends hide from the Gestapo. The play has been in rehearsal since October and set designer Robert Cook is planning a very ambitious set with three elevated rooms. A display of books and memorabilia relating to the Frank family and the Holocaust will be available before and after performances. Tickets are £7 available from Manor Pharmacy in Wheathampstead, Felicitations in Harpenden or by calling 01582 763510.