Diary of Anne Frank musings

We are now half-way through our run of The Diary of Anne Frank. The audience has really enjoyed it so far. The laugh, and clap and cry. We had 1300 middle and high schoolers this morning come to see it. They actually were very well behaved and attentive, at least until it came to the scene when Peter and Anne were talking and he kisses her on the cheek...but what can I say...they're middle school and highschoolers.

This has been a very different kind of show for Overlook. There is no glitter, no kick line, no razzle dazzle or show stopping songs and even though there are funny parts, you definitely wouldn't call this a comedy. True to form, it is well produced (to brag for just a bit, we had a school teacher this morning say she has taken her class every year for the past 18 years to see a different production of Anne Frank somewhere. She said this was without a doubt the best production she has seen and the only one that has made her cry at the end.) and the actors do an extraordinary job of portraying their characters, especially when you consider that they are just normal people in the community who most of them have little or no drama training. They do an amazing job of conveying the emotions felt by their characters.

When we started production on this show, I collected picture of Anne from online and made a sort of collage of them to put on the front of my folder to remind myself that this was more than just a story; these people really lived and died in a time that was very difficult for many people around the world. Anne Frank was a real girl who had hopes and dreams and aspirations to be more than what her circumstances told her she could be.

When I was younger, I watched the movie version of The Diary of Anne Frank, and pretty much hated it because I felt that the world view offered was contradictory to Scripture in that the most quoted line "I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are really good at heart," was incorrect when held up to scripture which says that "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." And I believe, but that for the grace of God and the transforming power of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, each of us is capable of being a Hitler or rapist or child molester or murderer.

But through living the experience of this play repeatedly, I have come to see another way of looking at Anne Frank's statement. More than saying that people are basically good inside, she was saying that she was not willing to give up hope that humankind could be redeemed. She was not going to let the circumstances she lived through or the injustices forced upon her make her become a bitter, jaded individual. She was choosing to believe the best and to hope the best.

Now, that may be reading into it a bit far, but in light of the world she lived in and the horrible things that were happening to her, I think it is amazing that a girl of 15 could have the maturity to maintain that outlook on life and not choose bitterness or self-pity.

It is an emotional journey each night as the cast takes us through the 2 years of hiding those 8 individuals had to endure. They were none of them perfect and there was more than one argument. But there is a beauty in their story and in the story of the young girl who wrote it all down. There is a lesson to. A lesson of hope in the midst of the most horrible circumstances.

Every time we reach the end, I tear up and have to make myself focus on the things I have to do backstage so I won't be blinded by my tears as I move around in the dark. And our precious performers are as moved each night as the audience is.

This is an amazing show to be a part of. Not many people will come to see it because it is hard to be excited about coming when you know the outcome. There is no glitz or glamor. No big dance numbers or roll-on-the-floor laughing moments. But those who do come will be touched by the simple innocence and beauty of the true story of a young girl who chose hope in the darkness.