In a production inspired by young actor's reading material, historical story is up on Colonial stage

LACONIA — Audrey Ringlein believes in the power of live theater as a means for passing down stories, so she wasn’t surprised about the impact a live performance of “The Diary of Anne Frank” had on her students.

They climbed on the bus Thursday afternoon to return to Plymouth Regional High School, where Ringlein is director of theater and dance, impressed but emotionally exhausted and tearful.

Watching Anne’s story unfold live as she and her family hid in a secret annex from Nazis who had taken over the Netherlands in 1940 was traumatic on its own, but some students also connected Anne’s experience to the present day.

“It made me feel so much more than I ever could when reading it,” says Kinley McDonough, 15, of Wentworth. “There was such strong emotion — high highs ... and at the end, such a low low. Now that I’m older and know more about the world, I make more connections — definitely to what’s happening in the United States today with immigrants, and in other countries as well with immigration and unwanted religions in certain areas.”

That educational and emotional power of live performance is the reason why Ringlein teaches theater and dance.

“There’s this special ritual that we receive when we go and experience theater live, and power when you can pass a message from person to person and generation to generation. That way, the story is not forgotten ... and the emotions are not forgotten. It is transferred to students today,” she said.

Inspiration for the production

“The Diary of Anne Frank” is based on Anne Frank’s first-hand account, written in her diary and published in the late 1950s, after her death in 1945, at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany, often with the title, “The Diary of a Young Girl.” The live show will continue at the Colonial Theatre Friday and Saturday nights, Oct. 10-11, at 7:30 p.m., and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12. Producer Bryan Halperin of Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative said he hopes the take-away for audiences will be that “Other-ing people is wrong.

“Putting people in groups and deciding one is less than another ... and so can be terrorized is something that’s always been wrong ... and the human race has never been able to work past it.

“We say ‘never again,’ but, of course, it happens again. Stories like this are important to share, because we need constant reminders that hopefully you’re treating people the way you want to be treated.”

The company chose to produce Wendy Kesselman’s adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Diary of Anne Frank” by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett a year and a half ago — long before any connection to the events of today could be drawn.

His inspiration came when one of the young Powerhouse actors was reading the book during a rehearsal for another show. “I asked the girl if she was reading the book for school, and she said that she was just reading it because she was interested.”

Halperin then learned many of the young actors were familiar with the story.

“I thought it was worth bringing the story to life.”

Inviting a young audience

Ringlein and McDonough were in the audience Thursday morning for a special performance attended by over 700 middle and high school students and teachers from Laconia, Meredith and Plymouth, where Maci Johnson, the lead actor, is a sophomore at the regional high school and a student of Ringlein’s.

“We were pretty nervous and curious about how they’d handle the subject matter, but they were remarkably engaged and gave a huge ovation at the end,” Halperin said of the young audience, noting it was an experiment the company has never before had the privilege to offer. “They seemed to get the message of why this story is still important.”

Usually, Powerhouse casts are large, and it’s not appropriate to ask everyone to take a day off for a weekday performance. But the cast of this show is smaller, and during auditions, the producers made it clear the commitment included a Thursday show.

“We’d love to do it again when we have other small casts,” Halperin said.

The story, the cast

Anne Frank spent two years in a secret annex behind her father’s Amsterdam office building with seven others in hiding from the Nazis, who had instituted restrictive laws for Jews in Germany, Anne’s original home, before eventually beginning to deport Jews to concentration camps.

Anne’s diary documents her time in hiding, and also deals with the more common hopes, despairs, fears and desires of a young person on the verge of adulthood.

The cast of the show, directed by Halperin, includes many Powerhouse veterans as well as a couple of newcomers to the group.

Anne is played by Maci Johnson of Holderness, who was recognized as outstanding actress in a musical at last year’s New Hampshire Theatre Awards for her performance as Winnie Foster in “Tuck Everlasting.”

She is joined by returning Powerhouse performers Jakob Stone and Kate Flower as Anne’s parents Otto and Edith; Tamara McGonagle, Logan Currier and Kenny Aber as the Van Daan family; Jim Gocha as Mr. Dussel; Emilee Thompson as Miep; and Powerhouse newcomers Estelle Carr as Margot Frank and Dan Arlen as Mr. Kraler. Rounding out the cast are Brendan Berube, Connor Butt and Chuck Fray.

For more information and tickets, visit coloniallaconia.com or powerhousenh.org.

Teen reactions

Ringlein says the 37 students she helped chaperone from Plymouth were very enthusiastic to support Johnson.

“I think they were very impressed and did not expect to see a show of that caliber. One student said, ‘Maci is incredible. I know she’s going to be on Broadway one day.’”

The teacher also liked an exchange from the play which makes it clear that teenagers have a voice; Anne’s sister Margot tells their father Otto, who wonders what Anne possibly has to write about in her diary, “Just because someone’s young doesn’t mean they don’t have something to say.”

“That’s my message to students,” Ringlein said. “Their voices are important. I hear them, and I’m here for them.”

McDonough loved the set, which she says made her feel “the trapped-ness” of the situation.

“You could see how small it was, how everyone was getting on each other’s nerves. It was so professional, so phenomenal.”