Posted 8:49 am Friday, January 20, 2012
‘The Diary Of Anne Frank' Still A Moving, Poignant Story
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By STEWART SMITH
Entertainment Editor
Entertainment Editor
It's sort of amazing how ingrained "The Diary of Anne Frank" had become in my mind without even realizing as such.
The story is one of those sort of ubiquitous bits of history, a tale that manages to encapsulate so much of what European Jews were forced to endure during (and even after) World War II. It's a story that most everyone has at least a passing knowledge of, to where you mention Anne Frank's name and they at least understand the broad stroke of what you're talking about. It's been a staple of high school curriculums for decades. So in that respect, I expected much of Tyler Civic Theatre's production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" to be familiar.
What I didn't expect was just how much of the play (lines of dialogue and everything) I had retained, or just how powerful the story remains. After all, it's been nearly two full decades since I last read the story or watched a version of it performed. But the play remains as affecting and memorable as it's likely ever been, and director Mike Hargrove and his cast and crew do a good job of putting it on.
If, somehow, you have never read or watched a version of this story (which has names and details altered from the actual events), it follows a group of European Jews in Amsterdam during the height of World War II. The Frank family, consisting of Anne (Victoria Dickson) and her father, Otto (Steve Swords), mother, Edith (Elizabeth Seguin), sister, Margot (LeeAnna Burgdorf), as well as Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan (Dwain Hare and DeAnna Hargrove) and their son, Peter (Daniel Seguin). Forced to hide in a cramped office loft in order to avoid being rounded up by Nazis.
Life is tense but manageable for the two families, until that is, the arrival of Mr. Dussell (Richard York), a Jewish dentist with no family and no other place to turn. He was supposed to only stay for one or two nights until a new hiding place could be found. He remained in hiding with them for more than a year.
Using entries from Anne's titular diary, the play skips through various points in the chronology of events and we watch as tensions mount, stomachs grow smaller and even as a romance blossoms between two unlikely people.
What remains as poignant as ever is the humanity of these characters and the unimaginable strife and uncertainty present. There is nothing idealized about these people and their attitudes. It remains a remarkably affecting glimpse of the stark living conditions they endured.
A strong cast has been assembled for the task at hand, an absolute necessity, obviously. It can be easy to forget that despite coming from the writings of a one girl, this is still very much an ensemble piece. The cast at large does solid work, but the two players that stand out are Swords and DeAnna Hargrove. Swords in particular is given the difficult task of being the backbone of the group, providing the voice of reason and encouragement and comfort and guidance as Mr. Frank. He does so in a fine fashion.
Mrs. Hargrove likewise does an admirable job of bringing out the heart in Mrs. Van Daan, a woman who we initially take to be little more than a superficial shrew, but whose scared heart is later revealed. This is all due to some of the strongest work I've yet seen from Mrs. Hargrove.
Special praise must be given as well to Hargrove's set designer. One of the most important elements of any production of this story is creating an enduring sense of claustrophobia, something that was executed with aplomb here. I can't remember the last time a set not only took up so much of the stage in that theater, but one that was so detailed as well.
This is a strong effort from Tyler Civic Theatre Center and it does an admirable job of presenting the legacy of these families.
"The Diary of Anne Frank" opens tonight at 7:30 at the Tyler Civic Theatre Center. Admission is $18 per person. For additional performance dates and information, call 903-592-0561 or visit www.tylercivictheatre.com.
