Anne Frank: an Educational Performance Piece for Middle School Students

Date of Graduation

Fall 2006

Degree

Master of Arts

Department

Theatre and Dance

Committee Chair

Kurt Heinlein

Abstract

This thesis will discuss the creation of a living history first person interpretation performance aimed at educating eight-grade students about the Holocaust. The performance dramatized the life of Anne Frank in hopes that students will relate, listen and learn from Anne and her story of living during the Holocaust. The scholarly work defends why the life and written work of Anne Frank fulfills the five main objectives of Holocaust theatre, as determined by scholar Robert Skloot. The Diary of Anne Frank’s flaws will also be discussed, as well as how a theatrical performance can fix these flaws and make Anne’s story the ideal educational tool when teaching about the Holocaust to middle school students. This thesis will also include the script, adaptations of the script for primary students, analysis of the performance, and a recorded video of the original performance piece.

Keywords

Anne Frank, Holocaust-Jewish (1939-1945), historical narrative, living history, drama in education

Subject Categories

Theatre and Performance Studies

Copyright

© Darby Kennerly

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Dissertation/Thesis

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