I’ve talked before about my fascination with anything related to WWII. I read historical fiction books about it, I watch documentaries about it and I ask my Dad (the ultimate history buff) about it whenever I can.
This is a relatively new thing to me, the girl who detested history lessons in school.
But nonetheless, I am intrigued. It amazes me that one man could create the bloodiest war in history. And that it affected the lives of so many. Not least young Anne Frank, whose legacy is apparent on almost every street corner of the city centre here in Amsterdam.
From the first day I saw a billboard advertising ANNE at Theater Amsterdam, a play based upon Anne Frank’s Diary, I knew I wanted to see it. I read the book as a teenager, but at the time I was still the girl that hated history and had yet to visit Auschwitz (which I think was the turning point for me becoming so much more interested in learning about the events of the war itself). Unfortunately for me, the play was only performed in Dutch, so there was no way for me to go and see it.
Then, low and behold, a few weeks ago, a saw a new poster, this time advertising a “multilingual language system” for the play. Hurrah! I kept badgering telling Scott that I wanted to go, but never thought that he would buy me tickets for my birthday this week. So, last night, off we cycled to the theater – a brand-spanking-new building out by Amsterdam’s old timber port.
The theater itself is very impressive. Modern, with a nice outside terrace on which to enjoy pre-show and interval drinks on a nice evening (which it was last night, lucky for us). There are two bars serving drinks and snacks and even a Febo-style snack dispenser that they fill with croquettes and bitterballen in the interval.
As we didn’t really have time to linger around the bar before the show started, we went and found our seats to try and figure out how the multilingual system works.
Essentially, your seat is fitted with an iPad Mini and you are given a set of headphones. You can then choose your language and whether you’d like to see subtitles throughout the play or listen to a dubbed version. We initially started with the dubbing, assuming that would be easier, but it was very distracting to hear the actors on stage talk in one language and then hear your own language piped into the headphones on a slight time delay. So, we both opted to switch to the subtitles.
We had great seats (second row), which at times did make it awkward to read the text and then look up at the action on stage to see what was going on. However, I think the multilingual system was fantastic and it didn’t really detract from the emotion of the play.
As for the sets, they were some of the most impressive I’ve ever seen (even by Broadway / West End standards). There were huge revolving buildings and landscapes, and it was a wonderfully accurate portrayal of the Anne Frank House and Amsterdam itself.
The actors were brilliantly cast and I liked the fact that at several points throughout the play there were actual excerpts from the diary displayed across the sides of the stage, along with real footage from the war.
By the end, I was almost in tears and the cast definitely deserved their standing ovation during the encore.
I would definitely recommend the play to anyone who has read the book or who is interested in Anne’s story. The theatre and stage itself are worth the visit alone. And I feel as though any issues they may have with the multilingual system (such as occasionally delay) will quickly get ironed out as more people give feedback. As long as you are the kind of person who enjoys watching subtitled films, you will be fine with this.
- Theater Amsterdam is located at Danzigerkade 5 / Westpoortnummer 2036
- Bus 22&48 from Station Sloterdijk bus stop: Hempoint / Bus 22&48 from Amsterdam Centraal Station bus stop: Oostzaanstraat / From both bus stops 20 minutes walk to Theater Amsterdam.
- The theater is a 40 minute walk or 20 minute cycle from Central Station
- The play is shown at 8pm every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a 2pm matinee on Saturdays and Sundays
- You can find out more, buy tickets and book the translation system at the Theater Amsterdam website
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