Alexandra Gellner and Wesli Spencer play Anne Frank and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in ‘Letters from Anne and Martin,’ developed and produced by the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect in New York City. Photo courtesy of the Clinton Foundation in Little Rock, Ark. Wesli and Alexandra, who is also the Associate Director for Education-Performances at the Anne Frank Center, will perform at the annual conference for NYC School Librarians Nov. 5 at CitiFeld in Queens, followed by a panel where I’ll join them to share Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank (illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg, Creston Books/Lerner Books)
When I talked about my book, Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank, most people are surprised to learn that both Dr. King and Anne Frank were born in the same year — 1929 — and how much these two people of different races, genders, religions and countries had in common. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that I wasn’t the only one who picked up on this connection between these two people who met hate with love and left us with words that inspire us today. The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect in New York City had developed a show called Letters from Anne and Martin that they premiered in 2013 — six years before my book came out!
When we became aware of each other, we realized that we were kindred spirits, too — the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect and I. We have the same aim — to break down walls between people, to show how injustice against any one of us is injustice against us all, how we must love and stand up for each other, with special attention to the vulnerable among us.
I was honored when the Anne Frank Center asked to create a birthday video to honor Anne Frank for what would have been her 90th birthday on June 12. I was delighted to donate books for their celebration. And I was thrilled I was when the extraordinary Patricia Sarles, Library Operations and Instructional Coordinator for Brooklyn and Staten Island for the NYC Department of Education, invited me to not only see the production, Letters from Anne and Martin, at the annual New York City School Librarians Conference in Queens on Nov. 5, but to share a panel with the actors afterwards, including the marvelous Alexandra Gellner, whom I’ve gotten to know in her other role as Associate Director of Education-Performance at the Anne Frank Center.
We’ll be talking to Alexandra in just a bit on The Kids Are All Write, but first I want to share how Patricia is making this magical meeting happen at CitiField — in Patricia’s own words:
Patricia Sarles
“I arranged for the Anne Frank Center to come when I met Alexandra Gellner and Sharon Douglas (CEO) at a presentation on Anne Frank from Menno Metselaar. Menno is from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and he was in NYC to promote his book, All About Anne (By Anne Frank House, illustrated by Huck Scarry, Second Story Press) and to do school presentations. I asked Sharon if the Anne Frank Center in NYC does programming and she said yes and introduced me to Alexandra. I told them about our fall conference for librarians and they gave me their cards. I kept in touch with them. When they told me about the performance of Letters from Anne and Martin, I then said, “What a coincidence! Do you know Nancy Churnin? She just came out with a children’s book about Martin and Anne.” They said they knew the book. After they submitted a proposal for our fall conference in July, I emailed them and asked them if it would be okay with them if you participated on the Q&A since you wrote a book on the subject. Alexandra was very enthusiastic about that idea. I was so happy I could invite you back to our fall conference again this year to participate in that Q&A after their performance and happy we can bring your book to the attention of our librarians.”
All About Anne by Anne Frank House, illustrated by Huck Scarry, Second Story Press
Patricia explained why she thought it was important to present Letters from Anne and Martin.
“I ultimately thought this play was important for librarians in NYC because many people don’t know that there is an Anne Frank Center in NYC and we are all from NYC! I have a personal connection to Anne as well. Well, not totally personal except that I’ve read her diary three times (first time in 7th grade) and it captivated me, inspired me, and resonated with me on a very deep level. I could not wait to visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam when I was in college, which I’ve subsequently done twice. Anne Frank is a 20th century hero and everybody ought to have read her diary and know about her so I was really thrilled to have met Alexandra and Sharon and to be able to bring their performance to my NYC librarians!”
Thank you, Patricia, for bringing us together and giving me a chance to see this amazing production and share my book. And thank you, Alexandra Gellner for taking the time to answer questions below on The Kids Are All Write!
Q and A with Alexandra Gellner
Please tell us about yourself and why and how you came to work with the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect.
I am originally from Northern California and came to New York when I was accepted to The New School for Drama where I got my MFA in Acting. It was three years of rigorous training at a university that seeks to develop civically engaged artists. So it felt like kismet when I joined the Anne Frank Center, an organization that endeavors to combat hatred and prejudice and intolerance in the United States, in the fall of 2016.
AFC had placed an ad on the audition listings for their educational solo show "Conversations with Anne." I was always moved by Anne's story from a young age, I loved reading and watching the play adaptation in high school so I knew I always wanted to play her. I also appreciated that the performance is primary source text and educational - it serves as an introduction to Anne and her diary for students who are meeting her for the first time.
I auditioned, got a callback where I met our CEO Sharon Douglas, and was then offered the role. I started rehearsing for that show and then "Letters from Anne and Martin" to essentially understudy for the actor playing Anne in that cast. Eventually, AFC leadership created the position for me where I would oversee and manage our performance programs as well as direct and act in them. I have since created an acting company and we each take turns performing. There is another actor besides myself who plays Anne and there are two actors who play Martin.
When I was younger, people who often ask "why do you want to be an actor?" Of course my answer has changed and evolved over the years, but in graduate school I realized what it all came down to was that I wanted to be an actor and teacher, because I believe they go hand in hand, and I wanted to find a way to teach empathy. But how does one do that? I am a firm believer in theatre being one avenue where we can practice and develop our empathy. Empathy and emotional intelligence are at the root of all of our programming at Anne Frank Center which makes it the perfect professional home for me at this point in my career.
What was the inspiration for developing Letters from Anne and Martin?
The idea was conceived by the Anne Frank Center education team before I came on board. They developed the performance for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. remembrance events in January 2013 and it rapidly became the AFC's most popular production among high schools and colleges. They continued with a university campus event in February that year and the performances have grown more frequent ever since.
The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks at an interfaith civil rights rally at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on June 30, 1964. Photo by George Conklin/Creative Commons
How does this fit in with the mission of the Anne Frank Center?
When I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, I think of courage, hope and perseverance in the face of adversity and intolerance. Combating prejudice and intolerance is central to the Anne Frank Center's mission.
He was a leader and champion for equality and harmony and it is stories like his, in our recent past and in our very real present, that we at the Anne Frank Center would like to bring closer to the forefront of our collective memory and consciousness.
You call it a theatrical presentation rather than a play because you use “found text.” What made you select the particular texts you did? Did you know from the start that you were not going to fictionalize the presentation in any way?
When I joined the team in 2016, the script had already existed so I was not part of the text selection process. The staff who developed the script had since moved on, but I was encouraged to make further developments. Everything that was in the original script is still there, I just moved some selections around, found some ways for their words to overlap so it felt like they were almost finishing each other's sentences across time and space. I also added some segments from his letter and her diary that exemplifies how detrimental segregation is to the mental and emotional health of segregated communities.
I think it was important to the staff then and it continues to be now that we do not take dramatic liberties to the point of fictionalizing any part of their lives. This is meant to open the door, spark the curiosity of students and to share with them these amazing words that already exist and were written within 20 years of each other! If so many similarities can be drawn between these two figures, how many other kindred spirits are out there?
An entry in the diary of Anne Frank from Sept. 28, 1942. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
Was there any challenge in getting the rights from the Anne Frank and the Dr. King estates to use the material?
As advocates for education, dignity, and respect, we take seriously the concepts of intellectual property and fair use. We work closely with our partners to ensure we're abiding by copyrights, including through the Anne Frank Fonds, the organization responsible for publishing the diary and images representing the Frank family. Our exhibits, performances, and other educational workshops all seek to highlight the vision and activism of historical human rights heroes. It's an honor to creatively bring their stories to public audiences and inspire the leaders who will fulfill their dreams for humanity.
Rachel Griesinger and Parish Bradley also play Anne Frank and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Letters from Anne and Martin. Photo courtesy of Embracing Our Differences.
Do you play Anne Frank in some or all of the performances? What is it like for you to play her? Has playing her changed the way you feel about her?
I share the honor of portraying Anne with a colleague of mine and fellow New School graduate, Rachel Griesinger. We split it pretty evenly and whenever one of us has another gig, the other can easily take over.
It's a very humbling experience to play her. I still get nervous, but not as nervous as I was when I first started doing these performances. Leading up to a performance I would get so depressed thinking about how I would have to visit that dark and cramped space and find some hope within it all. I would worry that I wasn't honoring her memory, or I wasn't doing her justice. I still worry, but at the end of the day, I remember there is a little bit of Anne in all of us. She contains multitudes. It's very easy to view her as a victim that had to suffer in silence, so when I first started performing in these shows I think my portrayal of her lived in a very morose place. Yes, she did get depressed, but most of her life, even in the Annex, she was rambunctious and very outspoken. She's helped me discover that side of myself and I have grown to love and lean into that when I portray her.
What for you is the power of having these two great spirits portrayed on stage together?
I think it's magical to think that these two brilliant minds coexisted on different sides of the ocean but were so aligned in their philosophy and dreams for humanity. And then it is devastating to think that they could have met and perhaps become colleagues in their fight for equality and justice, but we were robbed of that possibility because of the blind hatred of others.
Your book and its title illustrate that power perfectly - the power of kindred spirits. We all have them, and maybe when we remember that we are not entirely alone, perhaps we will be less scared, thus less combative and less hateful.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., left, in 1965. Anne Frank in 1940. (King photo via AP Photo; Frank photo via Creative Commons)
What have been some of the most memorable places the play has been performed?
We have performed for students the Clinton Foundation in Little Rock, Arkansas several times. They have in their garden one of the saplings of Anne Frank's beloved chestnut tree which she references in her diary. We've been hosted by the Wassmuth Human Rights Center in Boise, Idaho, which also has a sapling and a stunning Anne Frank statue in their memorial garden. The Sandusky State Theatre in Ohio was one venue I performed at last February that was a gorgeous space and had a wonderful audience.
What have been the most surprising and memorable reactions from audiences?
I am always so moved when students immediately remark on the parallels they notice between Anne and Martin's lives, and then they see how the message of their stories is relevant today: people are still thrown into cells and prisons and cages and their humanity is disregarded.
We received some thank you letters from students that we performed for at an after school program in Brooklyn. One student illustrated two chairs (which is our set) with a dashed line between them to represent the invisible threshold that separated but also connected Anne and Martin's worlds. It's a threshold that we are always playing with in the rehearsal room, so it was very satisfying to know that a 12 year old noticed and illustrated it.
When students start drawing connections (figuratively and literally!) it's incredibly rewarding.
A letter the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect received after a performance of Letters from Anne and Martin
If an organization wants to present the production, what are the first steps?
Anyone who is interested in hosting a production just has to reach out to us by emailing performances@annefrank.com with basic contact information, name and location of the venue and preferred dates and times of the performances and we'll go from there! We can perform in any indoor space with good acoustics or microphones as long as there is room for the audience, room for the actors to prepare and perform, two armless chairs for set, and a sound system so we can deliver the immersive soundscape.
Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank by Nancy Churnin, illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg (Creston Books/Lerner Books)
I want to thank you and the Anne Frank Center for the kind words about my picture book, Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank. I was not aware when I wrote this book that you had developed this presentation. I was surprised and happy to know about this presentation and this connection was being made for older audiences. Were you surprised to find out about my picture book? How do you feel about it?
I was surprised and thrilled to hear about your book and I was comforted to know that there are more artists out there sharing Martin and Anne's stories and highlighting the parallels of their lives, especially for younger audiences. We need to be aware of these patterns of oppression in our history and how it robs us of lives and friendships that could have enriched our world today. You and Yevgenia Nayberg have created a beautiful book that honors their legacy. It was actually very helpful to read your book as an actor and director because I am usually so focused on Martin's adult life and experiences in Birmingham that I forget about his boyhood and everything he was going through while Anne was writing her diary. Thank you for building such a clear and touching timeline of their lives!
I cannot wait to meet you in November!
I can’t wait to meet you in November, too, Alexandra! I am thrilled we’ll be sharing the story of these great spirits with the librarians and educators in New York City.
“
@annefrankcenter
June 11 2019 - 16:01
This Wednesday, June 12, 2019 marks what would have been Anne Frank’s 90th birthday. Help us remember by sharing what inspires you most about her. 📹: author Nancy Churnin @nchurnin reveals the kindred spirits of humanitarian leaders, Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr, in her children’s book ‘MARTIN & ANNE.’ Dr. King and Anne Frank came from worlds apart yet were born the same year and both shared a dream for a kinder, more peaceful future for humanity. Thank you, Nancy, for all that you do to share the story of peace and compassion! #anne90 #annefrank90 #inspiration #birthday #humanity #happybirthdayannefrank #martinandanne #kindredspirits #legacy #remembereducateact ✍🏿✍🏻📰📖📝”
From Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank by Nancy Churnin. Illustrated by Yevgenia Nayberg. Creston Books. Lerner Books.
To learn more about the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect and the great programs it runs, check out their website: annefrank.com
On Twitter: @AnneFrankCenter
On Facebook: Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect
On Instagram: @AnneFrankCenter
For more on the book, check out the Martin & Anne, the Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank page here. You’ll also find our project, Kindred Spirits, where schools are sharing how they are teaming up with other schools so kids can explore all they have in common here.