a subtle plug for arts schools

Tonight is the opening night for Cary High’s production of “And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank.” It’s a multi-media presentation of the stories of a few teenagers and their families affected by the tragedy  we call the Holocaust. The main character is not Anne Frank, but teens who knew her, including her boyfriend. Part of the story is told by the actual survivors via video. The actors, in turn, portray them in their younger years.

Last night was “preview night” which is a sneak peak of the performance for patrons and parents. I wasn’t really sure what to expect – though I knew it would be different than any other production I have seen at the school.

I walked away deeply touched. While the performance was very well done, and I was impressed with each actor’s ability to pull the audience in emotionally, what touched me was much deeper.

 As a parent of one of the actors, I knew how this cast had delved into their roles.  This was really no surprise. This director has always required a lot of her actors. They spend their weeks of rehearsal learning and developing their characters beyond the stage and their lines, no matter what play they are performing. But this time they were not developing characters; they were playing the parts of actual people.

So during the last 7 weeks this cast has visited the Holocaust Museum in D.C., kept personal journals, met and listened to Holocaust survivors, and of course they have rehearsed tirelessly.

The play was performed in-the-round, with the entire audience sitting on the stage. After the performance, the director brought the cast out for a “talk-back” session. The floor was open for questions and/or responses to what we experienced.

And this is where I was most touched.  As the cast answered questions like “How do you get in and out of character?”…. “Did you really slap her???” … “How has this affected your life beyond the stage?” it became evident that this experience has impacted every single one of them, from the lead roles to the sound technician. These “kids” portrayed the lives of “kids” that lived through a time we cannot even imagine. The gravity of their thoughts, the depth of their emotion and their willingness to be authentic with the audience created a profound moment. 

In that profound moment, as well as during the performance, I loved watching the faces of the Cary High teachers in the audience. (Theatre in-the-round makes that really easy.) Mixed with emotion were faces of deep satisfaction. Satisfaction that their days spent teaching, challenging, grading, disciplining are worth it. Watching teenagers grow as they learn of things beyond themselves and struggle with the challenges in this world probably makes it worth it to get up in the morning and step back into the classroom.

And who would have thought that it's in the theatre department... the arts... the extra curricular program that is so tempting to cut when money is tight, that life lessons are learned.