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Beijing Ann Frank Reviewed

Posted on November 4th, 2003

From the mailing list of Beijing’s only Jewish synagogue, Kehillat Beijing

In this month’s issue of That’s Beijing there is an interesting article about a Bejing interpretation and staging of The Diary of Anne Frank. It is playing 1-16 November in a local theatre.We are considering a community trip, tentatively for Wednesday, Nov. 12th. If you are interested in reserving a ticket and joining with members of the community to see it together, please send an email with your contact details to ….

About a Girl
Ji Pei finds inspiration in The Diary of Anne Frank

Gerald Mak Ji Pei stumbled upon a Chinese translation of the play based on The Diary of Anne Frank while she rifled through the library of the Central Academy of Drama. “I was moved by Anne’s positive attitude in the face of a horrible event,” says Ji, a second year graduate student at the Academy. “It was very appropriate because I found the script during the SARS period.”

Though it may be preposterous to compare SARS to the Holocaust, Ji feels that Chinese people can still relate to the message conveyed in the story. “Chinese people associate the Holocaust with war and with both the fragility and the strength of life,” Ji explains. In China, the Holocaust hasn’t been characterised as the single most horrific atrocity in history the way it has been in the West. China certainly has had many atrocities befall her people during her history, and of course, WWII has different associations here. “We did a lot of research, but there may be some things that we can΄t understand about the Jews,” Ji admits. “Our actors are young and it was difficult for us to understand the characters.”

Though Anne Frank’s story has a long history rooted in the plight of the Jews in Europe, it would be short sighted to miss the universality of her story of hope over adversity and the senselessness of a vibrant life cut short. In the past, people have downplayed the Jewishness of Frank’s writing when adapting it to a play. For example, Lillian Hellman, who produced the Pulitzer Prize winning version of the play, changed Anne’s words, “Perhaps through Jewish suffering the world will learn good,” to “Jews were not the only ones who suffered from the Nazis.” These were attempts to make the story more palatable to a public not ready to accept or comprehend the Jewish experience but the changes offended many who rightfully believed that the Jews suffered more than anyone else at the hands of the Nazis.

So, how does this lack of understanding of Jewish culture and history affect this new production? China is certainly no stranger to atrocities and, of course, during WWII, China suffered brutally herself at the hands of the occupying Japanese forces. Perhaps, then, a lack of understanding of Jews may not be as limiting as it was in the US in the 1950s. Hopefully, the Chinese audience won’t leave the theatre distracted by their lack of understanding of Jewish culture, but will instead realise that no nation and no culture is unfamiliar with suffering and senseless brutality. Nor is any human being unfamiliar with the insecurities, aspirations and hopes of youth. The tragedy of those very things being extinguished should translate in any language.

The Diary of Anne Frank will run Nov 1-16 at the Beijing North Theatre (6404 8021, 6406 0175)

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51 Responses to “Beijing Ann Frank Reviewed”

  1. ?eople, on November 5th, 2003 at 12:19 pm Said:

    Inverted Solidarity of Love

    As pivoting power gradients steepen on the world stage, two moments of reflection, on the near-vertical gradient of Nazi concenration camps and the educational philosophy of Brazilian Paulo Friere (1921-1997). First, an excerpt from Chapter 1 of F…

  2.  

  3. kaite, on January 5th, 2004 at 9:23 pm Said:

    is this good for a school play ?

  4.  

  5. hitler, on April 22nd, 2004 at 2:13 pm Said:

    why do you fuck ups think we need new info on ann frank.we dont hitler has spooken

  6.  

  7. its me, on April 22nd, 2004 at 2:15 pm Said:

    dam right we dont

  8.  

  9. kkk, on April 22nd, 2004 at 2:16 pm Said:

    i hate thoses dam jews

  10.  

  11. dont know, on April 26th, 2004 at 3:46 pm Said:

    why do you guys post the coments you do.cant we all get along.ahhh whut the hell am i saying.we need a clenzing of all the gays and jews and blacks kill them all

  12.  

  13. pill davis, on April 26th, 2004 at 3:51 pm Said:

    whut the hell is wrong with you.we dont need your racsist coments.

  14.  

  15. hitler, on April 27th, 2004 at 3:53 pm Said:

    shut the fuck up pill i hate the dam jews

  16.  

  17. Kayla, on May 18th, 2004 at 5:15 pm Said:

    hitler u need so shut-up because if u were a jew would u want us to just kill u because of ur religion?
    Oh yeah by the way here is a hint
    HITLER SUCKS ASS

  18.  

  19. Kayla, on May 18th, 2004 at 5:18 pm Said:

    HEY HITLER U HATE THE JEWS RIGHT
    WELL WE ALL HATE U AND HITLER

  20.  

  21. i no were u live, on June 23rd, 2004 at 12:58 pm Said:

    didu no hitlers dad had 3 wives o ya and hitler wanted 2 be a painter

  22.  

  23. i no were u live, on June 23rd, 2004 at 12:58 pm Said:

    i no alot about people more thanu thnik i o more about hitler

  24.  

  25. grown up, on June 29th, 2004 at 2:22 am Said:

    All you racist assholes, get over yourselves!

  26.  

  27. Oh come on!, on September 26th, 2004 at 11:04 am Said:

    Can i know why ur all angry at each other over this? yes hitler was bad but some ppl lk him. and some ppl hate the jews. but thats thier choice!theres enough of hate and ppl dieing in iraq and russia in this world and ur all fighting over something that has passed i mean come on! think about it. and cut the swearing..ur not cool.

  28.  

  29. Anonymous, on November 2nd, 2004 at 1:44 pm Said:

    ya

  30.  

  31. Brandon James, on November 18th, 2004 at 10:31 am Said:

    Ok!! God made all of us to be our own person. To believe in what we want. To do what we want. Its not right to dislike someone because of their skin color or their religous beliefs. Cause in the end, God wont care why you disliked someone, he is going to ask you if you got to get to know that person. All of you peaole who are agreeing with what Hitler did, you just need to put yourself in thoes Jewish peoples shoes and see how you feel.All of you need to take back everything you said about black people, gay people Jewish people. cause one day everything you say is going to come back to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  32.  

  33. Billiea Swacker, on December 9th, 2004 at 11:58 am Said:

    I am a teacher of Cherokee and German heritage. I just finished covering a unit on the atrocities which were commited against the Jewish people during W.W.II, and judging by some of the narrow-minded comments from
    peons visiting this site, would still love to have this semitism against humanity continue-enough is enough! Your ignorism is blatant and your spelling sucks!

  34.  

  35. priscilla, on December 9th, 2004 at 12:34 pm Said:

    Go ahead and judge others its ok you will only go to HELL and it wont hurt cause you’ll be burned FOREVER,&EVER!! so its ok go ahed talke mess but GOD is waching
    For God so loved theWORLD that he gave his only begotton son…. God even died for hitlare he dont care about the past but he cares 4 you. And who you are inside and not out

  36.  

  37. 12yearold, on January 10th, 2005 at 12:44 pm Said:

    yall all suck so shut up fuckers.

  38.  

  39. Dan Bloom, on January 13th, 2005 at 9:30 am Said:

    http://shihruchen.blogspot.com

    is a website in English about “the Anne Frank of Taiwan”

  40.  

  41. xXxHelixXx, on February 2nd, 2005 at 4:24 pm Said:

    Have some respect, you know what this website is based on?

  42.  

  43. pimp_21, on February 4th, 2005 at 2:29 pm Said:

    priscilla ur the gayist person i ever heard.i guess that retards don’t understand.

  44.  

  45. Disappointed, on February 10th, 2005 at 8:45 am Said:

    why can’t we just keep our racist comments to ourselves? I know that everyone has a lot to say about hitler and the nazis, but if they are imature and can hurt someone then it isn’t right for you to say. Children are going on this website, and your comments are unnecessary.

  46.  

  47. Ashok's Blog: Infinite Cavils, on March 31st, 2005 at 11:54 am Said:

    War Remembrances and Anne Frank

    My contention that there is needless hype surrounding Anne Frank.

  48.  

  49. someone, on April 14th, 2005 at 5:43 pm Said:

    What the hell is wrong with you hitler lovers? Do you know what those jews had to go through? The women,children,and men all killed because of their religion. If there was something wrong with them I don’t think god would put them on this earth. You should be able to enjoy every minute of life knowing you won’t die because of your race or religion. I hope all of you people that think it was right will one day grow up and see what this did to the world! Why don’t you people go research information about it….well that is if you have any consience.

  50.  

  51. jemrock, on April 27th, 2005 at 1:13 pm Said:

    What does it matter now??? Hitler is DEAD !!!And so is Anne Frank!

  52.  

  53. Ashlie, on May 9th, 2005 at 1:31 pm Said:

    oh my gosh you guys are friggin fighting over this dumb shit ya’ll need to shut the fuc up a stop trying to b cool cause u aint hitler was a very bad man and some of you need to read the book ann frank she didnt do shit and look wut he did all ya’ll r so friggin stupid . and pimp 21 if you think priscilla is gay b/c she believes in god i can’t fucin wait till you die bitch u’ll b burning in hell then u can b wit ur little dumb fuc hitler we’ll c how much he likes you then huh!

  54.  

  55. Anonymous, on September 20th, 2005 at 10:29 pm Said:

    Hitler was the worst fucker to ever walk the planet. Did u know that the people that were attracted to him were all drunk in a bar, or a bunch of complete losers and nerds. People who didn’t hate themselves and didn’t jack off every 5 seconds were not Hitler supporters. So to all the people who think Hitler was a cool, guy, FUCK YOU!!!!!!!!! IF YOU WANT TO BE LIKE HITLER, BECOME THE BIGGEST LOSER IN YOUR STATE!!!!!!!!!!!!

  56.  

  57. Anonymous, on September 20th, 2005 at 10:31 pm Said:

    Y du u people hate jews so much? What did they do to you?

  58.  

  59. RICHIE!!!!!, on October 11th, 2005 at 1:25 pm Said:

    U ALL SUCK MAJOR BALLS! JEWS BLOW! AND SO DO UR MOMS!! I WOULD KNOW! CAUSXE I HAVE EM ALL IN LINE SUCKING MY COCK! DICK HEADS!!!

  60.  

  61. dragon lord, on November 25th, 2005 at 12:39 pm Said:

    what did those “great people” the jews did?
    Al tell u wat they did.
    They killed 1000s of Russian Christains, Arabs, finaced the salve trade and lie non stop. They make fun of Chrisianity and are crazy with money.They lied about Hilter and made there owen dam nation and made it look as if it was Americas falt for all the crap jews do.

    O ya, they have huge noses.

  62.  

  63. Me, on November 26th, 2005 at 8:15 pm Said:

    ur all so stupid this all happened a long friggin time ago, so suck it up assholes

  64.  

  65. joe mamma, on January 27th, 2006 at 10:29 am Said:

    you are one fucked up asshole! wish you lived next door to me butt head!

  66.  

  67. Someone, on January 29th, 2006 at 3:42 pm Said:

    Yall some fuckin assholes why do u have to be so racist who ever said they hate blacks come to chicago and say that shit and these blacks will whoop yo white ass stupid ass bith and it aint nothin wrong with jews im cool with whites but yo dumb ass jus made me wanna hate them

  68.  

  69. Anonymous, on March 11th, 2006 at 7:51 pm Said:

    thats right i am black mofo and come to mia 305 and say that shit u will get fuck up and jews straight white people staight to but i will be fucking crackers if i see another cacker say some shit like that again

    sharpshotter

  70.  

  71. Anonymous, on March 14th, 2006 at 6:06 pm Said:

    god shut the fuck up you friggin dumbasses, whats the big deal with jewish people?? WHO EVEN CARES?! Hitler was a gay fag who obviously was wound a little to tight, so quit being gay you idiots. You have no idea how many people you are hurting by saying stuff about jewish people. Im not jewish. But it doesnt matter, there is no difference, just a matter of what you believe in, and seriously, I believe that you need to get over yourselves. Jewish people are jewish people, gay people are gay people, blacks are blacks, whites are whites. Theres no changing them. And maybe you should realize that and grow up before you find yourself the next victim. GR0W UP

  72.  

  73. Anonymous, on April 11th, 2006 at 9:36 am Said:

    why is every 1 swearing??? u r tryin 2 be hard with all ur swearin but its just not workin it really shows u up for the silly imature people u are yes we all have our opinions but u put ur self in their shoes HOW WOULD U LIKE IT ? nd u will probs say i dnt care nd all dat but at the end of the dat Hitler was an evil man and if u believe that it did the world good then u are evil too!!!

  74.  

  75. callie, on June 2nd, 2006 at 10:08 pm Said:

    I feel so bad for the jewish people! hitler is a retarded piece of crap and im glad he killed him self!!read the diary of ann frank its great!

  76.  

  77. what a legacy for the world, on August 2nd, 2006 at 1:25 am Said:

    It’s tragic. People who forget history are condemed to repeat it…I used to think that was a strange saying, however some of these postings prove the youth of today’s world has already forgotten…and sadly only the fourth generation from this tradgity shows it has learned nothing.If you do not arm yourselves with knowledge it very well could be your generation that repeats it…hummm…wonder what group will have the targets on their backs…maybe just being a man will be enough reason to kill men…maybe having dimples when you smile will cause your death…maybe having black hair will have you stripped naked then lead into a shower room where instead of water waiting you will be killed with posionous gas…maybe having brown eyes will mean you will be burnt alive…Maybe crooked teeth will mean you will starve todeath…All because a group of people decide you are not worthy of the life you were given. it will obviously be something you could not hide about yourself…I wonder how long it will be…how many of you posting pro-hitler comments will wet yourselves when the target falls on you for no reason…how brave will you be then? Who will protect you…Those who rise to your aide may be the very people you write so ill about now…I wonder how you would feel about them then…See I think they have already survived it once, I’m pretty sure they would not abandon someone to suffer the same fate… I am truly amazed at your postings. What a world legacy you seem to be living.

  78.  

  79. what a legacy for the world, on August 2nd, 2006 at 1:43 am Said:

    if you would like an education from a survivor who died in 2002 go here http://www.holocaustsurvivors......org/

  80.  

  81. lina, on March 4th, 2007 at 10:52 pm Said:

    i hate you if you hate jews fuck you

  82.  

  83. Dez, on March 19th, 2007 at 10:15 am Said:

    yall are some dumb people

  84.  

  85. desi, on March 22nd, 2007 at 11:28 am Said:

    what the fuck is worng with yall dumd asses, shittttttttttt!

  86.  

  87. i love alfred dis his gurll heyyy, on March 22nd, 2007 at 11:30 am Said:

    heyy fellas who ever hate jew yall some races ppl

  88.  

  89. bubbles cheer!!hah, on March 22nd, 2007 at 11:33 am Said:

    guess what i love my boo!

  90.  

  91. ann, on March 22nd, 2007 at 11:35 am Said:

    this sum dumb shit

  92.  

  93. cocoa, on March 22nd, 2007 at 11:36 am Said:

    yall some piece of shittt she tried to do everything she could to save herself! okay kk

  94.  

  95. desi, on March 22nd, 2007 at 11:38 am Said:

    heyyy yall wazzzzz good ppls, this shit is funny yal yellin at each other yall crazyy but yea il hit this thing up lata see ya

  96.  

  97. dan, on March 22nd, 2007 at 11:39 am Said:

    yo what up with that you so stuped and I hate you all so shut the fuck up

  98.  

  99. mussa, on April 3rd, 2007 at 6:48 am Said:

    Funny, all anti-semites have such a low level of self esteem. I wonder if any of them would be willing to meet up with me and have their ass kicked in a mind altering way? All commers welcome. Or you can just sit and post and wack your self off, as you were.

  100.  

  101. Π’Π»Π°Π΄ΠΈΠΌΠΈΡ€ Π Ρ‹Π±ΠΈΠ½, on May 31st, 2009 at 7:25 am Said:

    Π˜Π·Π²ΠΈΠ½ΠΈΡ‚Π΅ Π·Π° ΠΎΡ„Ρ„-Ρ‚ΠΎΠΏ, Π½Π΅ подскаТСтС, Π³Π΄Π΅ ΠΌΠΎΠ½Π° Ρ‚Π°ΠΊΠΎΠΉ ΠΆΠ΅ симпатичный шаблон для Π±Π»ΠΎΠ³Π° Π²Π·ΡΡ‚ΡŒ?

  102.  

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