Theater Review
Tom Titus
No single element of the Holocaust has affixed itself to the heart
more firmly than the story of Anne Frank, the Dutch teenage girl whose
diary of her family’s years in hiding and eventual capture gained
international renown on stage and screen.
When Paul Beidler’s drama class at Trabuco Hills High School wanted to
stage “The Diary of Anne Frank” two years ago, they couldn’t obtain the
rights because of a new Broadway revival. So Beidler wrote his own
version, “Hidden: The Story of Anne Frank,” which the class performed.
Fast-forward to OCC’s Student Repertory Theater company, where student
Danae Michelle Hanson, who played Miep Gies in Beidler’s original “Anne
Frank” drama, is staging this work in only its second production.
Historical literature dealing with the story lines, the hallway to the
stage, and the cramped Studio Theater is the perfect venue for the
retelling of the story.
In “Hidden,” the character of Miep--Otto Frank’s secretary and the
Christian woman who aided the fugitives during their period of hiding in
Nazi-occupied Amsterdam--is much more prominent than in “Diary.” The
German pursuers also appear more up close and personal than they do in
the more familiar version.
Also, the budding romance between Anne and fellow teenage captive
Peter (here depicted without a feline companion) is brought more sharply
into focus. Peter is not all that sympathetic in “Diary,” but he sheds
his arrogance much more quickly in “Hidden.”
Conflict among the Franks and the four others who share their meager
lodgings is more pronounced in “Diary,” but when it erupts in “Hidden,”
it seems to possess more of an emotional bite. Hanson also has created
some warm, wordless, heart-rending moments among the eight fugitives that
overlap to create an effective ensemble pattern.
In the title role of Anne, Juliette Elaine Finch projects a winning
and inspirational empathy, while losing little of the bratty teenager
segment of her character that gets her periodically in hot water with her
elders. Anna Jackson believably enacts her more studious older sister,
Margot.
The most involving portraits are of Anne’s parents, played by Jeff
Campbell and Janeen Rene Gronsky. Campbell chooses a caring, tentative
approach to the conflict, mindful of others’ feelings, while Gronsky
allows herself to cave in both physically and emotionally to the
pressure--both very human characteristics.
Travis Woods and Shelley Plue are less effective, but both have their
moments as the bickering van Daans. James McGinnis is excellent as their
son, the fragile Peter who finds a soulmate in Anne.
Pamela L. Russell brings a heartwarming approach to her humanitarian
character of Miep, who also shares narration duties with Anne. Aaron W.
Bennett plays his fugitive dentist more for the occasional chuckle than
his counterpart in “Diary,” using his frequent trips to the bathroom as a
sort of running gag to break the tension.
The ever-present Nazi threat is epitomized by Sean Gray’s despicable,
swastika-wearing soldier, spewing out invective against the Jews and
creating the intended audience discomfiture. Jeff Kemper is his equally
strident deputy, while Lisa Marie Goodell is a bright ray of sunshine
from the outside world who joins Miep in bringing aid and comfort.
The final tableau in “Hidden” surpasses anything in “Diary,” when the
actors return to the stage bearing photographs of the real people they
are portraying as their eventual fates are recounted.
All but Otto Frank died in various German concentration camps.
“Hidden: The Story of Anne Frank” is taken largely from Miep’s book “Anne
Frank Remembered” and, in its own way, is as involving and mesmerizing as
its more illustrious companion. Like “Diary,” it is a story that must not
be forgotten.
WHAT: “Hidden: The Story of Anne Frank”
WHERE: OCC Studio Theater, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa
WHEN: Closing performances today at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $5 and $6
PHONE: (714) 432-5640, Ext. 1
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