A New Play by Karla Freeman
What happens when the descendant of a Nazi meets the descendant of a Holocaust survivor at the Anne Frank House?
Restoration is a powerful new play exploring generational trauma, memory, fear of “the other,” and the possibility of healing across divides.
Set in a café across the canal from the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, the play follows Bertha, a Jewish woman desperate to enter Anne Frank’s room, only to discover the house is closed for restoration. There she meets Hans, a German waiter carrying secrets and shame connected to his own family history.
As tensions rise, humor, longing, music, and memory collide. Anne Frank herself appears throughout the play, guiding the action with tenderness, intelligence, and hope.