Review: And Then They Came For Me – Remembering The World Of Anne Frank (From York Press)

Review: And Then They Came For Me – Remembering The World Of Anne Frank

7:26am Wednesday 21st March 2007 in Theatre By Rachael Clegg

IT has toured America and the UK and will soon be seen in prisons and schools - James Still's play is testament to the living memories of Holocaust survivors.

And Then They Came For Me - Remembering The World Of Anne Frank explores the memories of Eva Schloss and Ed Silverberg, both surviving friends of Anne Frank.

The play switches from enacted scenes to extracts of interviews with Ed and Eva, enabling it to exist in the present and the past. Scenes interact with Eva's accounts displayed on screen.

In one scene, Eva describes Nazi soldiers searching the house, looking for Jews, while on stage young Eva and her mother ("Mutti") cling to each other as they hear the footsteps of soldiers conducting the search. The scene is terrifying, not only because of the sheer terror evoked by actors Melanie Dagg and Jessica Selder, but also because this has happened to the 80-year-old lady speaking in front of us - somebody we could pass on a street and think nothing of it.

There is one set throughout the play: a modestly decorated room with a table and two chairs, based on Eva's descriptions.

Asked as to what it is like playing Eva, Melanie said: "It was very scary and daunting initially. It's a huge responsibility.

"We try to show what she was like as a child and how being in hiding and the concentration camp changed her."

She added: "The rest of the cast has a lot of pressure as they play the parts of her family members and have to do justice to Eva's memories, which are extremely precious. This is Eva's way of honouring her family."

Throughout the play the audience was transfixed by Eva's face as she spoke on screen.

Director Stephen Sorby said: "When she gave the after-show talk at the Lyric Theatre, in London, she held the whole audience in her palm. You would have been able to hear a pin drop."

• And Then They Came For Me - Remembering The World Of Anne Frank, P4M Productions, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568.