What’s Up With the Title?

The title, though different than Anne's actual diary, is very similar. While the diary is called Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, the play is titled The Diary of Anne Frank. It may seem like we're splitting hairs here even discussing why they're different but if we Shmoop it up responsibly, we can see that the playwrights were more concerned with the overall effect of Anne's diary rather than every, single one of her words. It makes sense that the diary as a whole, what it stands for, would be the central focus for the play, rather than Anne's own coming of age story.