With political tensions, cultural worries and antisemetic views on the rise, it was a surprise to many Hickman students when the all school play was announced this year: The Diary of Anne Frank.
Since the announcement of the play, senior Kathleen Carnahan, the stage manager, has received numerous messages from students, all expressing concern over the choice of show.
“When the show got announced… I was flooded with texts, emails and Group Me messages, about ‘Why are we doing this show? This is a bad idea.’ And people were bringing up a lot of modern issues as well as past issues.” Kathleen said.
The Diary of Anne Frank shows the struggle of Anne Frank, a Jewish teenager who was hidden in an attic for 25 months during World War II. The stage version is adapted from the diary that Anne Frank wrote while in hiding before being taken to Auschwitz in Sept. of 1944.
“It is a very serious show. I was one of the people who had a lot of questions. I had a lot of faith in [Mrs.] Gerling to do the right thing, and I’m sure she had her reasons, but I definitely was not fully on board with doing it.” Kathleen said.
Senior Hanniah Anderson, also shared their doubts regarding the pool of potential actors, and the lack of Jewish performers.
“When it was first announced… I was a little apprehensive about our lack of Jewish actors, but I had no doubt that Gerling would be respectful with the show,” Hanniah said.
The acting teacher and director of theater at Hickman, Sarah Gerling, however, had no doubts about this show. In fact, she had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to do this show for several years.
“This has been a play that has been simmering in the back of my mind for a long time … since Covid, it has felt like ‘When is the right year to do this show?’…Because my initial thought, coming out of Covid, was we’ve all had this sense of isolation …like I had this connection. Even in this infinitesimal way that I experienced that isolation, I just felt connected to her a little bit more.” Gerling said, in her open discussion on Sept. 9.
Vicki Palmer, the Tech Director for Hickman Theater, has also expressed her support of this show.
“I personally don’t think we’re going to have any issues. I think one of the reasons for that is that we have Mrs. Gerling at the helm… I think she’ll absolutely handle everything,” Palmer said.
The timing, to Gerling, was very important. She had been waiting several years to put on this show, and this year offered her the motivation to put that plan in action.
“Looking at our world right now, looking at the current Genocide that we are seeing in Gaza…Looking at the immigrants in our country who are being ripped off the streets…I think theater is a really beautiful way for us to reach people, give a message, and tell a story that we don’t even have with other art forms…It feels really powerful and really important to me,” Gerling said.
This has not been an effortless production so far, though. Gerling has been in touch with several Jewish Foundations, including the Anne Frank Foundation.
The Anne Frank Foundation was started by Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father, and the only surviving individual hidden in The Annex, the attic that Anne Frank, as well as her family and several others, hid in for over two years. The foundation is involved with all projects regarding the use of Anne Frank’s diary and life, and when asked how they felt about this show, they were very supportive.
“I was ready if they said ‘We don’t like that’, to say, okay, that’s not their wishes…In short, their response was, ‘Please do this show’. They said that…because there is such a small population of Jewish Individuals in the United States, that if they relied exclusively on casts of Jewish actors, that this story would scarcely get told. And their feeling was, we want this story told,” Gerling said.
Gerling has also reached out to Hillel, a Jewish community at the University of Missouri, and asked them to oversee the rehearsals and give feedback when needed.
“One of the Rabbis there [worked] with us, coming to rehearsals, [gave] us input, [was] there so we [could] ask questions and we [could] inquire, because I want[ed] to treat this with so much respect. I want[ed] to honor this story so authentically, because these are real people,” Gerling said.
Gerling hosted the Sept. open discussion after it became obvious that the reasoning behind her choice was not understood by students both within and outside the Hickman theater program. Many students, however, left the open discussion feeling reassured, feeling that the show would be successful, and understanding the decision.
“I [was] so insanely more confident with this show than I was [before]. I had questions answered that I didn’t even know I had, and I just [felt] a lot better about this show than I [did].” Hanniah said.
Now, with the show opening, Hanniah still feels like this was a good choice of show.
“I think this show is more important than ever, and I’m glad we [did] it.” Hanniah said.
This has been a new experience for many students, due to the production’s deep importance and impact. It has not been as upbeat and entertaining as many of Hickman’s more recent shows, including the most recent Fall musical, Mamma Mia! Instead, The Diary of Anne Frank has required much more sensitivity and thought. The actors have done research on their characters and experiences, as well as the assistance from a local Rabbi.
But the experience for the actors is not all that has made this show a success. The audience’s takeaway is an important part of this process, and most of all for a show of this much importance.
“When the audience has come and seen the play that we’ve put on, hopefully they will take something from that experience and [connect it] with things going on in real life…If people start thinking about things going on, then I think that will [make this] a successful production of The Diary of Anne Frank,” Hanniah said.
