Premiere in Amsterdam of Anne Frank play in presence of HRH Willem-Alexander

The world premiere of the stageplay 'Anne' has taken place yesterday evening, in the presence of King Willem-Alexander, and of Buddy Elias (88 years old), a nephew of Anne Frank and the only still surviving member of the Frank family.

The play is about the life of Anne Frank, the world-famous Jewish girl who went into hiding for the Nazis, but was discovered and died in a concentration camp.
It is for the first time that the literal texts of Anne Frank's diary are used on stage.

A brand new theater has been built (Theater Amsterdam), especially for the play. This is located in an industrial area just West of the Amsterdam city centre, along the river IJ.

The play is in Dutch, but starting July 1, a translation system will be available. This works with iPads and headphones. Several languages will be available: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese and Russian. More languages (like Mandarin Chinese) may follow.

'Anne' has been written by the Dutch writers' couple Leon de Winter and Jessica Durlacher, who worked on it for 2 years. The work has been commissioned by the Anne Frank Fund in Basel, Switzerland.

The production is not associated with the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The director of the Anne Frank House has criticized the play for being too 'commercial'. It is possible to book tickets for the play together with a dinner and a boat ride to and from the theater, and this was deemed, by some, not in line with Anne Frank's life in a concentration camp.

The Theater Amsterdam will only be used for this play, it is hoped for the years to come.