Sacred Heart Crusaders set to stage dramatic play, "Anne Frank and Me"

By: Liz Dadson May 15, 2016 1567

Sacred Heart Crusaders set to stage dramatic play, "Anne Frank and Me"

What would it be like to take a blast into the past and meet Anne Frank during Nazi-occupied France in the 1940s? Would you then truly believe that the Holocaust happened and that six-million people were sent to die in the gas chambers just because they were Jewish?

That's the basis of the dramatic production, "Anne Frank and Me," being staged by the dedicated staff and students of the Sacred Heart High School Crusaders drama department.

Written by Cherie Bennett, the story opens with Nicole, played by Courtney Lair, and her friends preparing for an English test based on the play, "The Diary of Anne Frank." Nicole creates a stir when she states that Anne Frank's famous diary is a fake and that details of the Holocaust are exaggerated.

Appalled, her teacher, Ms. Zooms, played by Stephanie Brighton, berates Nicole for being a Holocaust-denier. Unfazed, Nicole later goes to the school dance, eager to meet with her friends, and is thrilled when Jack, played by Kyle Vaughan, asks her to dance. Her young world is shattered, however, when he inadvertently rejects her, causing her to run crying from the dance, directly into the path of an oncoming car.

With her life on the line, Nicole's world is turned upside down when she awakens in a disoriented state to discover that she is a Jewess living in Nazi-occupied France in 1942. And she actually meets and talks to Anne Frank, played by Keira Johnson.

Tension mounts when Nicole's father, Jean, played by Steven Travale, joins the resistance and endangers the very lives he wishes to save. Whether it is fleeing from their home to hide in an attic, dealing with the betrayal of friends, or facing the hell of being transported on a cattle car, the lives of Nicole and her family forever change.

The play rockets to a dramatic climax, with a twist that will keep audiences on the edge of their seats.

Many of the cast members are playing dual roles - in the present, and in the past. Also taking to the stage, are Lawrence Filsinger, Kirk Muegge, Eryn Vaughan, Dyllan Mooser, Christina Illman, Brooke Glasbergen, Joe Haynes, Caleb Palmer, Marc Glipo, Pat McArthur, Sierra Walker, and Miranda Broughton.

Director Veronica Davidson wanted the cast to capture the depth of the character needed for these dramatic roles. So, they travelled to a Jewish synagogue and the Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre in Toronto where they were greeted by museum educator Joyce Rifkind.

She spoke of Hitler's campaign of ethnic cleansing in which six-million Jews were killed, as well as members of other groups, including those with mental and physical disabilities, members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, Romani, or anyone who opposed Hitler and his regime.

"After seeing the passports with 'J' emblazoned on them, the Star of David that Hitler forced Jews to wear, and the ragged striped clothing that people wore in the concentration camps, the drama students of Sacred Heart were left with a profound sense of the injustices and terrors that were felt under Hitler's realm," said Davidson. "Keira, who plays Anne Frank, was overwhelmed with the number of Torontonians, alone, who had lost family members, and wondered what about all the others around the world who suffered these indignities and death? It is horrible to see how so many were directly-impacted."

The cast then had the honour of meeting Holocaust survivor Alexander Eisen who experienced the trauma of living in Nazi-occupied Vienna before escaping to Hungary with his family and losing his father to an arrest at the border. His oldest sister was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau, while Alex, his mother and other sister remained in the Budapest ghetto. They were fortunate enough to pass as Christians and escape the ghetto, evading SS patrols and nearly starving before being liberated in 1945, but not before losing many family and friends.

"Students also listened with rapt attention to their co-hosts for the event, Phil Englishman and his sister, Katy, who described the fear of living as 'Hidden Children' in Holland while having to cope with losing so many of their close family members in death camps before the war's end," said Davidson.

Kyle summed up the feelings of many after hearing Englishman's account, "We all knew we would be on a very emotional, eye-opening trip, but listening to Phil and the other speakers talk about their heart-wrenching experiences made it all the more real."

Through their research, the cast and crew hope their production will enlighten their audiences and build an awareness about the toll the Holocaust, and the Second World War, took upon so many innocent people.

"We must learn from these past horrors in order to prevent a similar downward spiral in the future," said Steven.

Courtney, who plays Nicole, said the role of a Holocaust-denier was difficult to play. But then they travel back in time and she plays Nicole, the Jewess, who experiences the horrors first-hand which makes them real.

"Anne Frank and Me" runs May 25-28, on the Crusader stage at Sacred Heart High School in Walkerton. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 each for adults, and $10 each for students and seniors; available at Marlin Travel in Walkerton, the high school office, or at the door.

Mark your calendar for a memorable night of suspenseful and poignant drama that will remind us all of why we must remain vigilant to the dangers of complacency in the face of tyranny.