Critically acclaimed novelist Francine Prose will discuss her latest non-fiction effort, Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife, which the New York Times described as “an impressively far-reaching critical work, an elegant study both edifying and entertaining.” Making an impassioned argument for Anne Frank’s literary genius, Ms. Prose tells the story of Frank’s refuge, the discovery of her diary after her death, and the global phenomenon that it eventually became.

Produced in collaboration with the Westport Public Library, the event is free-of-charge, open to the public. Registration is required at www.westportlibrary.org or 203-291-4818. Seating at the Playhouse is unreserved.

Parallel Paths is a first-hand account of the Holocaust as seen through the eyes of survivors, witnesses and rescuers who had experiences similar to that of Anne Frank.

In The Last Seven Months of Anne Frank, Anne’s surviving friends tell the horrifying story that begins where her famous diary leaves off, and for the first time the concentration camp experiences of Anne and her family are recounted. The screening will be followed by a discussion.

This event is free and open to the public.

Join Westport Country Playhouse Associate Artistic Director David Kennedy for a conversation with Lawrence L. Langer, one of the most prominent literary and cultural scholars of the Holocaust and author of the critically acclaimed books Using and Abusing the Holocaust, Admitting the Holocaust, Preempting the Holocaust and Holocaust Testimonies: The Ruins of Memory. Mr. Langer will discuss the evolution of Anne Frank’s story over the last half century and the history behind its cooption as a “universal” story of hope and redemption. This is sure to be a thought-provoking take on The Diary of Anne Frank. .

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 3pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th for a more exact start time.

Join Molly Ephraim, the actress playing Anne Frank, at Barnes and Noble of Westport as she reads selections from Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl, after which she will be interviewed by Westport Country Playhouse Associate Artistic Director David Kennedy about her work on this famous role. Ten percent of all proceeds from book purchases at Barnes and Noble of Westport this day will be donated to the Playhouse.

This event is free and open to the public and will take place at Barnes and Noble of Westport, 1076 Post Road East, Westport CT.

Charles Small, Director of the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism, a founder of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, and one of the leading experts in his field, will give a talk on the history of antisemitism from the early twentieth century to today, with a particular emphasis on its contemporary manifestations. This will be followed by a moderated discussion with the audience.

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 8pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th to get a more exact start time.

From Outrage to Advocacy: Raising Public Awareness of Genocide

The history of genocide in the twentieth century has a parallel history of advocacy, daring men and women who made it their mission to raise awareness of these extraordinary crimes. Learn about the history of advocacy and what today’s advocates are doing to avert tomorrow’s next human rights catastrophe.

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 8pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th for a more exact start time.

During the run of The Diary of Anne Frank , the Education Department will host two Family Nights as part of our Together at the Table program. These Family Nights allow families to enjoy a communal dinner in our rehearsal barn and a casual conversation about the show before attending a mainstage performance. This program aims to make live theater accessible to more families, and to introduce young audience members to Westport Country Playhouse in a warm and informal atmosphere.

$10 ticket price includes the dinner and the performance. Tickets to Together at the Table are not available online. Please call the box office at 203-227-4177 to reserve.

$10 ticket price valid only for purchase of 2 or more tickets, including at least one student-age audience member.

Join Molly Ephraim, the actress who plays Anne Frank, as she recites Anne’s powerful words, and then create your own story in a mixed-media diary using a range of innovative art materials.

Recommended for ages 6-12 years.
This event is free and open to the public and will be held at Westport Arts Center, 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport CT.

A Brief Life Illuminated: The Power of Anne Frank’s Words

Peter Nelson, Director of the New York Regional Office of Facing History and Ourselves, will lead a post-show discussion about The Diary of Anne Frank, addressing the question, "Why does Anne Frank continue to speak to us with such power?"

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 3pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th for a more exact start time.

Words of Defiance: Writing as Resistance during the Holocaust

Ellen M. Umansky, Director of the Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at Fairfield University, explores diary writing as a form of non-violent resistance during the Holocaust, contrasting Holocaust diaries, including Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl, with memoirs and other forms of literature.

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 8pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th for a more exact start time.

During the run of The Diary of Anne Frank, the Education Department will host two Family Nights as part of our Together at the Table program. These Family Nights allow families to enjoy a communal dinner in our rehearsal barn and a casual conversation about the show before attending a mainstage performance. This program aims to make live theater accessible to more families, and to introduce young audience members to Westport Country Playhouse in a warm and informal atmosphere.

$10 ticket price includes the dinner and the performance. Tickets to Together at the Table are not available online. Please call the box office at 203-227-4177 to reserve.

$10 ticket price valid only for purchase of 2 or more tickets, including at least one student-age audience member.

Join the cast of The Diary of Anne Frank as they discuss the creative process, the historical research required of them as actors, and the responsibility inherent in bringing this story to life on the stage.

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 8pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th for a more exact start time.

Living to Tell: A Discussion with Child Survivors of Genocide

The magnitude of the crime of genocide can overwhelm us with the statistics of the sheer numbers of people who are brutalized, displaced, or murdered. But genocide, while being one large crime against a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, is also many single crimes committed against countless individuals, even against the youngest and most defenseless. This panel discussion will focus on the individual experience of genocide, as we hear the remarkable stories of several people who survived it as children.

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 3pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th for a more exact start time.

This special public matinee performance will provide an opportunity for student artists at the Neighborhood Studios in Bridgeport, CT to attend The Diary of Anne Frank, as well as for other local students to attend the performance with their families at a discounted ticket rate. This matinee will be followed by a talkback featuring a panel of the Neighborhood Studios student artists whose work has been featured at the Playhouse.

$10 tickt price includes lunch and performance. Tickets for Together at the Table are not available online. Please call the box office at 203.227.4177 to purchase.

$10 ticket price valid only for purchase of 2 or more tickets, including at least one student-age audience member.

This specially discounted matinee performance will be followed by a discussion for the whole family exploring the fascinating history of how Jewish traditions, practices and artifacts were preserved during the Holocaust. Come early, and enjoy a pre-show reception of light refreshments in the lobby.

Discounted tickets for this special matinee are not available online, please call the box office at 23.227.4177.

Discounted ticket price of $15 valid for students only.

This event is sponsored by UJA/Federation Westport Weston Wilton Norwalk

So the World Will Know: Attempts to Document Genocide

Scholars and activists work to collect and preserve the unique voices of survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides. In written histories as well as audio and video recordings, these documents aim both to preserve testimonies in danger of being lost and to raise world awareness of atrocities suffered. Attempts to document such personal histories are accompanied by unique challenges of methodology, access and preservation. The panelists will address these questions and discuss the role of documentation in inspiring personal activism.

This event is free and open to the public and will begin immediately following the 8pm performance. Please call the box office after September 28th for a more exact start time.

In conjunction with the The Diary of Anne Frank, the Playhouse will display a sculpture created by students at the Neighborhood Studios in Bridgeport. The Attic Sculpture, which will remain on display in the Playhouse lobby through the end of October, will be the collective result of each student’s individual artistic responses to reading the diary. The project is guided by Steffi Friedman, a sculptor and teacher who was a Jewish teenager in Nazi Germany. When her family fled Germany two weeks before Kristalnacht in 1938, they escaped to Amsterdam and settled one block away from the famous annex where Anne Frank and her family went into hiding.

Window onto History: Perspectives on The Diary of Anne Frank

Westport Country Playhouse would like to thank the following for their support of Window onto History: Perspectives on The Diary of Anne Frank:
* Anti-Defamation League of Connecticut
* Anne Frank Center USA
* Barnes & Noble
* The Carl and Dorothy Bennett Center for Judiac Studies, Fairfield University
* Connecticut Coalition to Save Darfur
* Facing History and Ourselves
* The Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University
* Holocaust Child Survivors of Connecticut
* Neighborhood Studios
* PROOF: Media for Social Justice
* UJA/Federation Westport Weston Wilton Norwalk
* Voices of Rwanda
* Westport Arts Center
* Westport Public Library
* Westport/Weston Chapter of Hadassah
* The Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Anitsemitism (YISA)

Join the Mikey's Way Foundation in celebrating our 5th year anniversary. The first ever comedy night to be held at the Westport Country Playhouse is a perfect way to mark the occasion.

World-renowned comic, Mr. Robert Klein, will be performing for one night only to benefit the work of Mikey's Way Foundation. The Foundation supplies electronics to children going through life threatening illnesses with long-term treatments.

Come early and enjoy the silent auction. Bid on some fantastic and exotic packages. i.e. Caribbean Vacation, West Coast Getaway, etc

All proceeds will benefit the Mikey's Way Foundation.

Please note this is not a Westport Country Playhouse production.

Curated by Helen Klisser During

This exhibition explores the importance and fragility of memory, and asserts that documenting one’s own experiences is a valuable undertaking that will have significant impact on future generations. Work on display will include drawings, paintings, lithographs, film, and sculpture by Christian Boltanski, Sophie Calle, Anselm Keifer, Mayer Kirshenblatt, Leo Kok, and Ursula von Rydingsvard, among others. All of these artists address collective memories surrounding events both pre-and post-World War II, but through the medium of art embellish and abstract them, so that the resulting images exist in a space between fact and fiction.

As part of the exhibition, visitors will be encouraged to document their own memories through writing, speaking, drawing, or painting—proving that all of us have stories worth sharing and recording. The exhibition is intended to complement and build upon the powerful memories conveyed in the Westport Country Playhouse’s fall production of The Diary of Anne Frank.

Memory will be on exhibit at the Westport Arts Center, 51 Riverside Avenue, Westport CT September 24th - November 28, 2010.