WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
‘WHO ELSE BUT ME IS EVER GOING
TO READ THESE LETTERS?’
BY ANGELA WILLIAMS
STREET ART BY EDUARDO KOBRA
These were the ironic words written
by the most famous diarist of all
times, Anne Frank.
A recent showing of ‘Anne’, the
theatre production inspired by Anne
Frank’s life sparked controversy.
The press got hold of the theatre's
marketing ploy of offering a dinner
& show combi, and this was the
final straw for many who considered
Anne's memory sacred and above
being served up as entertainment.
How dare people go out and enjoy a
slap-up meal before watching a
young life being snuffed out by a
Fascist regime!
This whole brouhaha around Anne made me think about the concept of making
entertainment from someone else’s suffering. All fiction is based on conflict of
some kind. It’s not engaging to read about someone who is happy, healthy,
well-off and loved by family and friends. Our imagination is captured by
someone who misses something in their lives and this absence causes them
emotional pain. This schadenfreude is made acceptable by the fact that the
character is fictional. We don’t feel it’s wrong to go and enjoy shows such as
‘Oliver’, or ‘Cinderella’, stories both centring on social injustice and child abuse.
W