Diary of Anne Frank

The humanity of words written in a teenager's diary more than 50 years ago in Amsterdam has reached Southwest Nebraska and the resulting impact is on stage this week in downtown McCook.

The Southwest Nebraska Community Theatre Association's dinner theatre presentation of "The Diary of Anne Frank" begins Friday and runs through Sunday at the Fox Theater.

Anne Frank was a German-Jewish teenager who was forced to go into hiding during the Holocaust as she and her family, and four others, spent 25 months during World War II in an annex of rooms above her father's office in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Anne's powerful story -- preserved in her diary -- continue to be a source of inspiration for at least two McCook teenagers who auditioned for and received lead roles in the McCook production.

Sophomore Whitney Pierson who plays the role of Anne Frank and Junior Chris Lyons, who plays the role of Peter Van Daan, both admit to being deeply affected by Anne Frank's life and both say their introduction to her story was accidental.

Whitney, whose father was stationed in Germany at the time, said a friend of hers got in trouble at school and was forced to write a book report on Anne Frank. The friend never read the book but Whitney did, and became obsessed with the story.

"My mom and I started meeting people who had been through the Holocaust, and we went to concentration camp sites and even visited Anne's hiding place," she said. "Since that time, I keep on reading and finding out as much as I could about her life and about World War II." Chris was also in the fourth grade when a friend of his mother's visited McCook.

"She had been to the hiding place and brought back a copy of the diary. Since that time, I re-read it about every two months and every time I re-read it, I discover something new," he said. Don Harpst, who directs the play, said he is very impressed with the amount of background and enthusiasm, his two young actors bring to the stage.

"At one rehearsal, the whole cast was asking me questions surrounding Hitler and the Jews and I suggested that if anyone was interested in finding out more about the subject, they could borrow his copy of 'The Rise And Fall of the Third Reich' which is like 2,300 pages long," Harpst said. "Whitney told us she'd already read it -- during the summer on her own."

And it's not every teenager who has authentic Jewish articles to loan for Jewish themed plays. Harpst said that Chris loaned his mezuzah for the play. A mezuzah is a parchment inscribed with Bible verses rolled and put into a case which is attached to the doorpost of the home. Harpst has his own deep-rooted interest in the story of Anne Frank and this is the third time he's been involved in the play. He played the role of Anne's father Otto, in the 1986 McCook stage production and in 2001 played the role of Dr. Dussell in a Kearney production. Harpst said during the 1986 production, his family had a German exchange student living with them and he learned about the far-reaching impact of World War II. The following year, the Harpsts visited the family in Germany and visited some of the historical sites including the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

"It's like walking in a chapel. Very solemn. It's a mound of earth with a sign that says something like 5,000 people died here. It just brought the whole story home, and it's a constant reminder that unless we're careful, this type of thing could happen again today," Harpst said. "And thankfully, we have the voice of a 13-year old to remind us." Both Whitney and Chris agree on their favorite passage from Anne Frank's Diary: "In spite of everything, I still believe people are real good at heart."

"That is one of those timeless sayings that will never not affect someone," Chris said.

"Anyone can take that saying and put it in their life some where, some way," Whitney said.

Harpst notes that it isn't just the young cast members who are being affected by the story.

"All the rest of the cast are making a point to adopt the characteristics of the real people they are portraying. It gets me how they are working so hard to do a great job. We find that each rehearsal people get emotional at certain points in the show," Harpst said. In addition to Anne, the Frank family includes Anne's sister Margot, played by Lexi Reagan, and her parents played by Bill Marshall and Colleen Grant.

Marshall, who said it had been almost 40 years since he was last involved in community theater, decided to get back into in now that he is retired. He said he has German heritage and one of his sister-in-laws had been in Germany and was forced to hide, so this is an important story to him too.

Colleen Grant said while she is affected by the obvious issues, she was also impressed with the normalcy of the Franks try to maintain, while their lives are in turmoil.

"And playing the mother, it's interesting that Anne and her mother are having the same sorts of discussions that a lot of mothers and daughters have had since the beginning of time and continue having today," she said.

"But I think ultimately, this is a play about hope and the hope they maintained is awesome."

Other cast members include: Rachel Hart as Miep; Donnie Poore as Mrs. Van Daan; Maurice Green as Mr. Van Daan; Doug Tolle as Mr. Kraler; and Gene Weedin as Mr. Dussel.

Dinner theatre tickets are $20 and available at Sehnert's Bieroc Cafe, Mexico Lindo and Country Whimsey. Show only tickets are $9 and available at Howard Kool Motors.

Showtimes at the Fox Theatre are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.