BY SOPHIE MILLETTE

“The Diary of Anne Frank,” PACE’s first Winter Play, was a huge success. This show was extremely different from the others PACE has put on this year. It had a very small cast—which is rare for PACE. Then, there was the play itself. “The Diary of Anne Frank” is a real story based on a girl’s diary that was never completed due to her death in a concentration camp.

Although the play is a tearjerker, there are some happy moments, bringing small bursts of laughter. For example, when Peter VanDaan gets frustrated at Anne Frank, he starts quacking at her to mock her. Another is when Mr. Dussel pretends to get Anne’s homemade earplugs stuck in his ears, inducing a hilarious panic among the cast. Moments like these illustrate that, through everything, people in desperate situations often make the most of what they’ve got. Yet still, after all four nights of the show, the audience burst into tears at Mr. Frank’s ending monologue. The acting was so powerful that several audience members said they forgot it was a high school production.

Another thing that made this play unique was the double casting. For most of the roles, you got to see two totally different personalities play one person. It was intriguing to see the unique choices that each actor made.

PACE students are more accustomed to playing multiple small roles, but the change-up of one big role allowed the actors to connect with and get into their characters. Veronica Sadler, ’14 and Alicia Meglio, ’12, who both played Anne Frank, were full of energy and life. They did a wonderful job transforming Anne from the loud, rambunctious girl to the brave woman she becomes by the end of the play. Becca Fryer, ’13, who played Mrs. VanDaan, was also phenomenal. Her character was incredibly dynamic and Fryer captured this flawlessly. Zack Autieri, ’14, played Mr. Dussel, the pessimistic and sarcastic dentist. Autieri grew into the part very well, becoming the depressing and sometimes hilarious Dussel. All of the actors portrayed their characters accurately—from the gentle, frail character, Margot, to the levelheaded and wise Mr. Frank.

Another challenge for the actors was that the characters they were playing were real people in history. The actors were forced to think about who their characters were and what their intentions were. In doing so, the actor became so attached to their roles that when the last show rolled around the cast was incredibly upset to let the characters go.

Each of the four shows drew in a full house and a standing ovation. Congratulations to Zachary Moore, PACE’s theatre teacher, for making his first play a truly wonderful experience!