CHS puts on moving production of 'The Diary of Anne Frank'

Years from now, the 10 human cast members of "The Diary of Anne Frank" will look back and realize, if they don't now, that they took part in something remarkable, a skilled theatrical production with the kind of emotional impact that changes people.

The Central High School Red Dagger Drama Club production opens tonight at the Central Junior High School Auditorium.

Nearly 50 years after its publication, "The Diary of Anne Frank" is still the book that introduces most people to the Holocaust. Written in the Amsterdam attic where eight people hid from the Nazis, this doomed teenage girl's views on adults, on the possibility of never realizing dreams, on love and hope still leave us wanting to undo what happened.

The cast is a wonder throughout, beginning with Lauren Parrent in the title role. Parrent beautifully portrays the boisterous 13-year-old who grows into the 15-year-old starting to become a woman. She is an actress with great natural ability.

As her father, Mr. Frank, Brent Humphries' portrayal is much more understated, as it should be for the person everyone relies on, but no less powerful.

Catherine Moreton plays Mr. Frank's supportive wife who eventually unveils her own ferocity. Stacy Dohogne is Margot, the sweet sister Anne is always compared to.

Making people human

As Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, T.J. Bishop and Blaire Holmes play unlikable people but make them human, not villains. Mr. Dussell (Bailey Hirschburg), the dentist, also yields to the stresses.

Clay Schermann plays their son, Peter, as a shy boy who gradually warms to Anne. His cat Izzy couldn't be better in the role of Peter's cat, Mouschi.

Appearing in the smaller roles of Miep and Mr. Kraler, the Dutch woman and man who help the families, are Carman Scholl and Drew Lincoln.

Part of the credit for this fine production goes to director Cynthia Bradshaw and to her husband, technical director Joe Bradshaw, whose set fills the stage yet still conveys a sense of the figurative prison these people were in.

sblackwell@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182