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