Review by anonymous
June 12, 2019 certified reviewerWhat I liked
I saw a dress rehearsal of Shiva for Anne Frank earlier this month. Rachel McKay Steele’s one-woman show handled the rare feat of being hilarious….and deeply moving.
McKay Steele takes scenes from her own life and weaves them in with a few protests. The chief grievance is that Diary of Anne Frank is not taken seriously as literature by many, all because it was written by a teenage girl.
The performance asks the audience to take in a full view of McKay Steele’s character, as well as Anne Frank’s. We’re asked to take into account Frank’s brilliance, her sexuality and even what would try the patience of any parent; her snark and her occasional snippish remarks against the people with whom she hid in a cramped annex for two years.
Heres a spoiler alert for the most moving part of the performance. McKay Steele asks her audience to actively mourn for Anne Frank. She leads the audience in a Kaddush – a prayer of mourning – for this vibrant kid who was brutally tortured and murdered in a concentration camp. As someone who was inspired by Anne Frank’s story, saying a prayer for her touched me more than I thought it would The prayer gave me a connection to this beautiful kid who died not so long ago and lived in a world not so remote from ours.
What I didn't like
no thoughts now
My overall impression
I saw a dress rehearsal of Shiva for Anne Frank earlier this month. Rachel McKay Steele’s one-woman show handled the rare feat of being hilarious….and deeply moving.
McKay Steele takes scenes from her own life and weaves them in with a few protests. The chief grievance is that Diary of Anne Frank is not taken seriously as literature by many, all because it was written by a teenage girl.
The performance asks the audience to take in a full view of McKay Steele’s character, as well as Anne Frank’s. We’re asked to take into account Frank’s brilliance, her sexuality and even what would try the patience of any parent; her snark and her occasional snippish remarks against the people with whom she hid in a cramped annex for two years.
Heres a spoiler alert for the most moving part of the performance. McKay Steele asks her audience to actively mourn for Anne Frank. She leads the audience in a Kaddush – a prayer of mourning – for this vibrant kid who was brutally tortured and murdered in a concentration camp. As someone who was inspired by Anne Frank’s story, saying a prayer for her touched me more than I thought it would The prayer gave me a connection to this beautiful kid who died not so long ago and lived in a world not so remote from ours.
