Roger Guenveur Smith: OTTO FRANK

Acclaimed stage and screen actor Roger Guenveur Smith returns to Keene with a stirring new solo performance piece exploring the story and legacy of Anne Frank’s father, Otto Frank. Inspired by research initiated at Keene State College, and presented as a Sidore Lecture performance in conjunction with the 36th anniversary of the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Smith (credits include Do the Right Thing, The Birth of a Nation, Rodney King) blends the historical and performative in a piece about the man who lives on past loss to share his family’s experiences and memories through his daughter’s famous diary.

Roger Guenveur Smith has been inspired by Otto Frank, father of diarist Anne Frank, to create a solo performance informed by both tragedy and triumph. As a steward of his daughter’s legacy, Frank navigated loss, adolescent ambition, and the criticism of those who questioned his motivations, the authenticity of the diary, and even the Holocaust itself. How does one simultaneously serve the living and the dead, and at what cost? In collaboration with sound designer Marc Anthony Thompson, Smith interrogates our present moment through a rigorous examination of our not-so-distant past

Creative Connections:

• Post-show talkback and reception with Roger Guenveur Smith
• Performing History debrief discussion at Cohen Center with Roger Guenveur Smith

This project is a collaboration with the Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, the Keene State College Sidore Lecture Series, and is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Expeditions program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.

Theatre/Location: Main Theatre

Price: $13-$20 General Public / $10 Youth/Non-KSC Students / $7 KSC Students

• Arts
• Lecture/Presentation
• Reception
• Theatre