Humanizing Anne Frank: Discovering Hope through the Joy of your Period

Vita Muccia

Lights up on a small girl onstage, opening the second act of a play. 

After an intense dental surgery simulation, she continues  with a monologue, diving into life as a young teenage girl : intense  hormone changes, discovering the sensuality in her own body, and talking about her first period. A vulnerable reveal for any character, especially onstage, in front of audiences of various ages, genders, and perspectives; but even more shocking when unveiling   the setting of this particular play: World War II, 1944, Amsterdam, and you’re portraying Anne Frank.

When thinking about hormones, puberty, and periods, historical figures don’t immediately come to mind, especially Anne Frank. Like  any teenage girl, Anne found these experiences exciting, awkward, and downright embarrassing, no matter what the surrounding world may have been. But, honestly, is there any way to know how she felt about her period, or experiencing these shifts in the bleakest of circumstances? And if you are sharing her story, how can you discover this to best interpret the  character? Directly referencing her diary is a great start, as those who have adapted it into a play did. But, to explore  her emotionally, the question shifts: how much do these changes bother her, if at all? And to look even further, how did this affect her daily life? 

To interpret all these ideas is the actor’s job. That's me. Hi! I’m Vita Muccia, an actor in the Southern California area, performing in Long Beach Playhouse’s production of The Diary of Anne Frank. I’m playing Anne, and discovering how much she wrote and pondered about her changing body was as surprising to me, as I’m sure it will be to audiences who attend our show. Many audiences come with the ending already fresh in their minds, and focus on the heinous acts that accompany this story, but our genuine jobs as actors is to not “play The End”. 

What does this mean? Here’s a few great examples: Why did audiences flock to Titanic? It wasn’t because we wanted to see the boat sink. Yes, we all knew how it was going to end, but we were engaged by the hope that Jack and Rose may live, may get off the boat, and the relationship they created. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was one of the most anxious first viewing experiences I (and many others) have had. Everyone is nervously awaiting the ending, and how horrendous it may be, assuming one of the world’s most gruesome directors would be nothing but accurate. But again, the actors, and the movie itself, did not play into the audiences expectations. The result? We were all pleasantly surprised.  

This is the same approach myself and my cast must take. No, sadly, unlike Once… this is not a retelling of what could have happened to Anne Frank, but rather, a very deep, accurate representation of her diary. But, like these movies, we can’t “play The End”. Yes, Anne’s prodigious writing, the story of the Annex, and what happened to these eight people has made this story incredibly infamous, but sharing what really happened inside the Annex, those human experiences they had , is our primary goal as actors. To engage an audience, you must reflect humanity back to them. Ergo, do not “play THE END”.

So, that’s why I have focused so much on Anne Frank’s menstrual cycle and bodily discoveries, interestingly enough. I wanted to find the most innately human experiences she went through. I’ve strived to find a way to bring her character from iconic historical status to just a regular girl; one I and an audience could further relate and sympathize with. Realizing she went through the same hormonal changes, and had the same questions about her changing body as me, but like any teenage girl, humanized her for me.

Every “first” as described by a medical professional happened to Anne in the secret Annex: her first vaginal discharges, first sexual dreams, first “lessons” about the male and female reproductive organs, first hormonal urges, her first kiss (and maybe more, depending on how you read), AND of course, her first menstrual cycle. How do we know this? She wrote about it. These details were kept hidden for about 40 years, until they were released in the most complete form of her diary in the 1990s. According to the Editorial History provided in The Definitive Edition of The Diary of A Young Girl, at the time of its original publication, mention of various sexual matters were not appropriate to be discussed for books for children, or in this case, written by children. It wasn’t until her father, Otto’s, death that this information was released, and the diary republished. 

As publications of the diary were censored before the 90s, the original version of the play followed the same approach.  Appearing on stage in 1955, the play’s first inception, written by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, details vague ideas and stories of what occurred in the attic, careful to shield many of the most triggering elements of the show. But, in the 1990s Wendy Kesserman adapted this play based on the updated diary publication. Kesselman included stories, dialogue, and immersive elements directly reflecting the unabridged diary. With Kesselman's updated dialogue, Anne Frank now has multiple monologues about her innermost thoughts, feelings and sexual desires, including one about the joy of having a monthly cycle. Definitely a different way to approach her character, but I find it  effectively and efficiently, encapsulates her humanity. So, as an actor, and a cisgendered female, how do you deliver this monologue to an audience? 

This is the exact question that my director and I have wrestled with. First, my director, my fellow actors and I were all surprised to hear this out of Anne Frank’s mouth.  What was she thinking? Why is she sharing this? But again, what is so ‘shocking’ about this conversation? Why does this seem too private to share with an audience, even today? Is it because it was so taboo back then? Because it had been hidden, but now released? The second question was how joyful, excited, and happy Anne seems to be about her period. From the play’s dialogue and her diary entries, she seems very excited about the potential of having her period, yearning for the “sweet secret” it seemed to possess. 

All that my cast and I could think about was how universally UNHAPPY we all were about our periods.

This really made me think more about my experience. As an actor, it is always easier to pull from your own experience, but this monologue is so different because no one I have ever met was “excited” about the prospect of their period.  No one in our cast had any positive stories, and all of the adjectives used for your period had negative connotations like, “the curse”, “that time of the month", “red badge of courage” or "crimson tide”.

My first period started with debilitating cramps developing while I was running in my 6th grade gym class, and this is something that has stayed constant for 14 years. Somehow I had and knew how to use a pad, most likely from the incomparable, The Care and Keeping of You, and even though I didn’t bleed yet, I knew this pain was not normal. Unlike Anne, there was not a shed of excitement, just dread and frustration from the pain I was feeling. 

When I made it home, the uterine lining had shed, and “the curse” had begun. I showed my mom, and even though she was incredibly supportive, even jumping up and down in excitement, it didn’t feel exciting. Just a real, oh fuck, here’s the next 40 years of my life. My mom definitely did attempt to bring humor, positivity and support, especially after her first experience with her own mother, who literally laughed and belittled her with the retort, “Ha, Ha now you’ve stuck with it too!” Again : this negative connotation that you’re stuck with this “burden” for 50 years, and we all must grin and bear it. 

Setting aside these interesting reactions, I started thinking of girls who may not know as much about this process, and being genuinely terrified of finding something in their pants, like my best friend. She was informed of her period, and had the vaguest idea of what may occur, but when her uterine lining was not a traditional bright red to start, she was truly terrified  that she might be dying because it didn't look “right”. It wasn’t until she got home and spoke with her mother that she felt any sense of relief. But there are many of us who are still quite embarrassed to talk about it; there are more stories of fear, terror and dread than true excitement.

None of these feelings really match Anne’s excitement, and anticipation of having a period, and definitely don’t reflect her joy in experiencing her “sweet secret”. But even trying to read into her words and the certain ways she describes the process makes me question why she was so excited. She talks about how she “can hardly wait” for such a “momentous occasion” but that it’s “too bad I can’t use sanitary napkins [because they couldn’t] get them anymore, and Mama's tampons can only be used by women who’ve had a baby. (66)” I have never, in my life, had to worry about not having the necessary “needs” before my period. I always had a pad or could get one, and trying to wrap your head around having nothing to help you out with this, other than maybe rags, does not sound enjoyable to me. Then, to have something at your disposal, like a tampon, but be unable to use it for truly societal reasons….she couldn’t use it out of fear of rupturing her hymen! Again, I’m not jumping up and down about a 1940s tampon, which I can only imagine was not as comfortable as what we have now, but to not be “allowed” to use it from a social stigma that we no longer adhere to is incredibly frustrating, and angering, at least to me.   

I was so bogged down by this archaic perspective, but instead of fighting it, I really had to reevaluate it. I was reminded of this by my fellow cast member. Now for myself, my mother and my best friend, we all got our period before or around 12. Anne did not get hers until she was 14 years old, same with my cast member. Like Anne, she expressed how much she really had been waiting for it, how much she just wanted to be like everyone else who’d had it, and always wondered why she was different. Why did it take so long for her, was there maybe something wrong? Though she doesn’t express these emotions exactly, Anne’s motivation behind her words is very similar. There are themes of longing, anticipation throughout the diary, and especially a sense of purpose when she finally starts her cycle. Anne expresses that “what’s happening to me is so wonderful…not just the changes…on the outside, but also…on the inside” and unlike in the script, which boils her thoughts to seeing her period as a “sweet secret”, she feels more introspective  about this, believing “Whenever I get my period…I have the feeling that despite all the pain, discomfort and mess, I’m carrying around a sweet secret…so, even if it’s a nuisance, in a certain way I’m always looking forward to the time when I’ll feel that secret inside me again(174).” She feels as though it’s leading her into a new chapter or perspective on her life, as a whole.

 Reading through this again especially away from the dialogue, I feel conflicted, but understanding, in a way. As a diehard feminist, thinking that you gain purpose from a period is an odd concept for me. I do understand how common this ideal was until at least the 1960s, but, looking through my modern lens, how can I justify this emotional thought process for myself?  But, looking at this more and more, I really believe Anne’s mind was not exactly finding a purpose but truly of growing up.  In a weird way, the only normal reliable connection to real life was the cyclical reminder of her period. It was a reminder she was alive, living and this incredibly normal biological cycle could continue even in the most extreme circumstances.  

She talks often in the diary of what would happen once the war ended. This was proof of a future, envisioning her experiences, her growth, both physically and mentally, within herself.  I had to remind myself of the only excitement that did actually come from my first period; I was growing up, becoming a grownup woman, and I was going to be exposed to new opportunities, experiences in my life that would shape me for the better. She was just as excited for the future before her,too. She dreamed about being a writer, embracing a passion that was championed by her family (very similarly to me), excited about what life could be, what she could become, do, and even for the idea of who she would meet along the way.  

The most heart wrenching part of her journey is that she did not fulfill these goals in a way she may have imagined. But, for someone like me, looking from a new lens of history, I get to see how she embraced her passion of writing, creating a revolutionary memoir. She found love, genuinely and intimately connecting with another person in one of the most unlikely of places, with her fellow Annex member, Peter Van Daan (Van Pels in real life). Yes, she got to experience these things, but not in any way she would have initially imagined. She believed she would make it out, to the end of the war, and share her story, for that was when her life would begin. 

Getting her period signifies all these expectations and the realization that you are growing up, even if she wasn't necessarily wishing for the shedding of her uterine lining, but for the world that would emerge from the transition of childhood to adulthood. 

These are all the wants, desires and expectations I think many of us can relate with our transition into adulthood. Granted, I believe she has achieved so much more than I may have at 25. I still haven’t found a lot of the things she was looking for - a steady idea of my career, romantic love in any tangible form, and a confidence in what I want out of life, other than knowing I love to act, and I haven’t even begun to answer how I can do it without starving? But, by portraying this role, Anne has reminded me to hope for every next step of life, even when I barely have faith left in myself. She did that, in many ways with her diary, but ironically for me, through her joy of her period. 

Anne inspired hope in millions of people after the war, educating them what happened, and why it should never happen again.  She brought hope to millions of girls, just with her perspective on life, love and perception of womanhood. She even inspired entrepreneurs to create new advances in feminine products that can help with period pain through CBD, because of how positively she embraced her menstrual cycle. Their perspective was, why can we attempt to be this joyous about our own period and make them more manageable.

Approaching this period monologue now, it’s about so much more than uterine lining, or a natural biological process. It’s about the possibilities that naturally ebb and flow through life; it’s about the mundane and relatable things that can still exist in the darkest of times, and reminds me of the hope that we all enter life with, and try to hang onto that hope along the way.  If Anne, in the worst possible circumstances that some of us can imagine, is incredibly optimistic, energetic and inspired for what could be, why shouldn’t we? Or at least, try to be.   

Sure, it all started with a first period, but her excitement and anticipation for what life can bring, even in a midst of chaos, reminds us what the first in anything can be like.  The first time, can yes be intimidating, but can be the most exciting transition into so many possible opportunities. If I take anything of Anne’s with me in the future, that’s it. Bringing up hope, even in the most discouraging of times.  I still feel this incredible weight, but even more so, this incredible honor in playing this character. Being able to share these stories with audiences is an extraordinary  thrill, but truly it’s more inspiring to me each and every day because of her hope. If I can instill an ounce of her hope, and optimism in audiences, and also myself, we will all be better off.

Vita Muccia is an actor, writer and singer in the Southern California area. She is currently portraying Anne Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank at the Long Beach Playhouse from April 8th - May 6th, 2023. Graduate of University of California, San Diego, Vita strives to find roles and projects with a social message or meaning, and often pairs her interest in history and dramaturgy when approaching her work. Anne Frank has been an incredible opportunity for her to embrace art and history, and writing this piece was a perfect blend of these two passions.