With weeks of preparing for the production of The Diary Of Anne Frank, the cast is starting to become more comfortable with their characters. The cast is making sure to show an accurate portrayal of what had happened to Anne and her family by taking trips to the Holocaust museum, having people come in to talk to the cast and holding a Shabbat holiday. With this new knowledge they are hoping the audience can understand more about Anne’s story.

“We had a shabbat which is a Jewish holiday where you can’t use electricity,” director Lori Thompson said. “We used candles to light and played different games and sang traditional songs, this was no help the cast with the religion. We have watched many movies and documentaries on the Holocaust as well. Soon the cast and I will be taking a trip to the Holocaust museum to see artifacts and to see the Holocaust in more of a up close way. A jewish person also came in and spoke to the cast for them to better understand the religion and the practices.”

Learning to embody the emotions their character presents is one way that the cast is trying to show an accurate portrayal of what had happened to Anne and her family.

“I have been really trying to connect with the character Anne,” senior Mckenzie Mead said. “I have reread her diary many times because the script is a cut down version of her diary. For me, the hardest part about connecting with Anne is that she has many different levels of emotions, and her emotions change very easily and quickly from anger to happiness when she was in hiding. I feel that I don’t do this, so it’s very hard for me to learn how to switch emotions. I try and put myself in her shoes and see what she was going through at the time, then I feel like I can see way she changed emotions so quickly. She went through so much with her family it’s no wonder she was like that.”

The students behind the scenes have been working to complete the set and also make sure everything runs smoothly for the final production.

“It’s my first time in authority as a stage manager,” junior Jenna Mazurek said. “I can see that the cast is now memorizing lines. With everything that we have done to get into character, I’m really starting to see the play develop into what I feel is a portrayal of the Diary of Anne Frank. We have been hard at work backstage trying to back sure everything is ready for the final productions. The one thing we are making sure is ready is the set. For this play it is a huge Star of David.”

The play will be showing the audience Anne’s story and the meaning of the Holocaust in a new way that isn’t just looking at a screen. In hopes that people will have more knowledge of the struggles and challenges that were brought by the Holocaust after seeing the production.

“I feel that this play is going to be moving, beautiful and heart wrenching all at the same time,” Mead said. “I feel this because it was a tragedy what happened to Anne. My hope for the play is that people leave the theater with more of an understanding of what happened to Anne and her Family and how hard it was for the people to live back during the Holocaust.”

The play will be at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 through Jan. 23 and at 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 24. It will take place in the Ruby Zima Auditorium at the high school.