The Herriman Drama department has so far had a very successful – and busy – year, opening with their fall musical Spongebob and holding auditions for their next two productions less than a month after. Their next play, “The Diary of Anne Frank”, is currently in the middle of their rehearsals.
This isn’t just any old play, however, as the audience will be brought onto the stage. Known as a ‘blackbox play’, these performances will include a set surrounded by tiered platforms to bring the 150-200 person audience up close and personal with the story. The theatre teacher, Mrs. DeYoung says that this is to force the audience to focus on the power and depth of the story.
For those who don’t know, “The Diary of Anne Frank” centers around the Frank and van Daan families hiding from the Nazis, hoping to escape the fate of so many other Jewish people during the Holocaust. Not only does this story cover the blatant horrors of Hitler’s Germany, it shows how human nature will show itself even in the darkest of times. Families will always fight and make up, hope will always find its place in our hearts, and young love will always blossom. Most of all, the play shows us how important it is to think of our history not only in terms of the facts, but in terms of the people that lived during it and their personal experiences.
When asked why she chose this play, DeYoung explains that not only does it follow the school year’s theme -”Strive to see how the world could be, in spite of the way that it is” – it is also relevant to today. “There is lots of divisiveness in the world right now, with people judging each other based on labels, things they can’t control, or people being who they are,” DeYoung stated. In order to fully understand the world, we must not only see the joy and hope in everything, as Spongebob was intended to help us do, we must also acknowledge the more harrowing parts of our history and our current day.
The cast wants to acknowledge the heavy parts of the play and how delighted they are to be a part of it. Stella Quackenbush, playing Miep Gies, said, “I’m really excited to have this experience and see other people in my cast grow. I’m really excited for who everyone was cast as because I feel like each person will do really well.” She points out how talented each member was and how well they each fit their roles.
Adele Ferrin, playing Anne Frank, and Robyn Heninger, playing Edith Frank, are also very talented individuals who are very excited for their roles in the play. Overall, the drama department is proud to dig in deep into this story and help the audience come in and truly feel things and connect with our history.
The play will run from February 25 to the 28. Make sure to watch out for when tickets are available, as there will be a much more limited audience capacity and seats are expected to fill up fast.
