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Goldstein is directing the company鈥檚 season-ender, 鈥淭he Diary of Anne Frank,鈥� which opens in previews Saturday, April 21.

Goldstein stepped down as ATC鈥檚 longtime artistic director last year, but not before selecting this season.

Choosing 鈥� and directing 鈥� 鈥淎nne Frank鈥� was a no-brainer for him.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a play I鈥檝e wanted to do for a long time,鈥� he says, speaking from his Phoenix home.

鈥淏eing Jewish, and a citizen of the world, this is a topic and a story that feels important, both personally and to this particular moment.鈥�

According to a recently released Anti-Defamation League study, anti-Semitic incidents in 2017 increased 57 percent over 2016. And a survey released early this month found that close to one-third of all Americans have very shaky knowledge of Holocaust facts. The time is ripe for a reminder of the Nazis and the Holocaust, says Goldstein.

鈥淭he story needs to be told again and again.鈥�

Anne was a Jewish teen in Amsterdam. When the Germans occupied the Netherlands, she, her family and a few others went into hiding in concealed rooms in the building where her father worked. She kept a diary for those two years, 1942-44. When they were discovered, the family was sent to concentration camps; only her father, Otto, survived. After the war, he returned to Amsterdam and found her diary (it had been saved by one of the workers in the building). He had the diary published as 鈥淎nne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.鈥�

鈥淭he Diary of Anne Frank鈥� was fashioned into a play by Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich, and in 1997, Wendy Kesselman revised the script. That is the version ATC is staging.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not a story where the audience doesn鈥檛 know the ending,鈥� says Goldstein.

鈥淜nowing how it ends it is doubly important to find the life and humor that these eight people found while trapped in the annex. 鈥� These were lively, colorful, interesting people living from moment to moment.鈥�

Goldstein had the luxury of time, which allowed for some deep research for this production.

Included in that research was a trip to Amsterdam and tours through the Anne Frank House, the city鈥檚 Jewish quarters and the Holocaust Museum there. 鈥淪eeing the actual rooms where they stayed informed (the production) in a physical and tactical way,鈥� he says.

Just as important was a cast meeting with Holocaust survivor Steven Hess as the play was rehearsing at the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York, which is co-producing 鈥淎nne Frank鈥� with ATC. Hess lived in Amsterdam and was imprisoned at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp at the same time Anne Frank and her sister Margo were.

鈥淗aving him there to help guide us through this story brings home the reality of the situation; fictional accounts don鈥檛 have that same impact,鈥� says Goldstein.

鈥淚t was very meaningful to have a survivor with us,鈥� says Naama Potok, who plays Anne鈥檚 mother in the production.

Potok is particularly moved by the play 鈥� her late father, the writer Chaim Potok, lost more than 100 family members in the Holocaust, and she has worked in organizations that helped some victims of the Nazis get restitution.

鈥淔or a period of time, I really needed to distance myself from the Holocaust and this connection,鈥� she said in a phone interview from her New York City home.

鈥淲hen this play came around, I was overjoyed and grateful to be cast. And then at one point, I thought I couldn鈥檛 do it.

鈥淭hen I realized this is exactly what I needed to be doing.鈥�

The experience, she says, 鈥渉as been very powerful and very wonderful.鈥�