Last Wednesday, Mer and I got to go out to dinner with Aunt Mary. She came up to our neck of the woods, and we went out to eat at Rockne’s, a local restaurant chain. We got to see some other CVCA people there, so it felt homey.

After supper, we went back to CVCA, where we had front-row seats for the opening night of The Diary of Anne Frank, the fall play. I knew the basic story of Anne Frank, but I had never read the book or seen the play, so I was looking forward to the performance (in a depressing sort of way).

I love CVCA’s theater program. It is not perfect, but I would stand it up against any high school theater program, and many college programs. They just do a great job, and the tradition continued. The set was a suggestive set, with multiple levels and partial walls to suggest rooms. It was plain and simple, but it was supposed to be spare rooms in the back of a factory, so it should not have been fancy.

The acting ranged from solid to excellent. The young lady playing Anne was outstanding, bringing a young girl’s wonder and optimism to the role. She was winsome, and just sparkled in the the role. The young woman playing the wife of Mr. Frank’s friend was very natural in her role, and it did not seem as if she was acting, which is always a good thing.

One of the cool things that Brandon (the director) did was to interject several true stories of Holocaust survivors to open the show, to open the second act, and to be interspersed with the final soliloquy of Mr. Frank. It allowed more kids to get some stage time, and seemed perfectly natural in the play. It worked well and was very moving.

Mer has several of the students in her classes, and three of the actors in the play are in Royal Fools. It is always pretty neat to know the kids who are in the plays, and I was impressed at how they did. I also got to see several alumni during the intermission and after the play, so it was a pretty great evening (allowing for the depressing nature of the play).