Voices from the attic

Blue and red socks flashing by, teenager Katie Bing pirouettes toward Rachel Busic, a blonde in jeans and flip flops. Several other teens sprawl on the floor beside a stack of Styrofoam containers, reviewing their scripts over a quick dinner of Mexican food.

The scene this balmy evening in Laguna Beach couldn’t be further from the world they’re trying to portray.

It’s the last few days before the opening of “Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl,” as performed by Gallimaufry Performing Arts’ self-producing teen theatre company, Generation GAP.

Based on the original diary of the same name, the play is a dramatization about a group of eight hideaways in an Amsterdam attic during World War II. The story centers around an ordinary Jewish teenage girl who recounts her day-to-day experiences and feelings amidst a terrifying wartime tableau.

Frank’s diary, made public after her death at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, has become a worldwide emblem of Jewish suffering during the Holocaust and one of the most-read primary accounts from the time.

The drama will be staged at the Bridge Hall at Neighborhood Congregational Church, a somber, wood-paneled room with stained-glass windows. The company takes full advantage of the space, creating an angular “theater in the round” to induce a cramped, almost claustrophobic sensation.

Its austere surroundings and intimate space evoke the set of rooms known as the “Secret Annex.”

But the staging was tricky, art director and cast member Noah Plomgren said.

Several scenes in the play are acted out simultaneously, and the subject matter was more mature than the group was accustomed to.

“It was a little hard to direct,” Plomgren acknowledged. “It gave us great acting opportunities, though.”

The tale was quite a departure from the lives of modern American youth.

“You just have to focus and get into it,” said actress Kelly Hancock. “We all researched the time period and what our character would be like in it.”

Hancock has been performing since she was a child. She was one of the founding members of Generation GAP, but took a break to focus on school before deciding to rejoin the group.

“It’s a great play and a great story,” Plomgren said.

Generation GAP was launched two years ago by Steve Josephson, executive artistic director of the Gallimaufry.

“Steve got together a group of kids who wanted to create their own productions,” Plomgren said.

The company debuted with a production of “Little Shop of Horrors,” followed by “Weird Romance,” both musicals. The students then decided they wanted a change of pace.

“Most of them [students] have been involved for two years already,” Josephson said. “They really felt like they wanted to try something different, something more challenging that wouldn’t require as much of a set.”

They tossed around titles such as “Spoon River Anthology” before settling on “Anne Frank.”

The company produced the entire show, from fundraising to budgeting. They held open auditions, and two former Generation GAP members ? actor/director Jack Major and Hancock ? decided to renew their membership after being offered parts.

The play was originally intended to be held at the Festival of Arts Forum Theatre and was set to debut on May 15. The company experienced casting and staging issues, however.

“Stuff happened,” Plomgren said.

“Sharing venues is always challenging,” Josephson said. “It’s more beneficial for [the company] to have to scramble. They learn how the real world works.”

Although he’s only 15, Plomgren is already determined to continue working in theatre after high school, but for now, high school reigns supreme. Several of the teenagers depart mid-rehearsal to deal with typical end-of-year activities.

After they leave, the remaining players gather in small groups to go over lines, motivation and seating arrangements, intent on taking advantage of the remaining time they have before opening night.

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