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By Tony Casey, Johnson City Press
Milligan senior Darcie DeLong, like many students across the globe, made a personal connection with Anne Frank through the writings she left behind in her famous diary.
But unlike other students, DeLong gets to take her connection further by playing Frank in several performances of “The Diary of Anne Frank” later this month at the McGlothlin-Street Theatre in the Gregory Center for Liberal Arts at the college.
Called her “swan song” by director and professor of Theater Richard Major, DeLong adds Frank to a long list of characters she’s played. Because of the heavy feel of this historical event, DeLong is approaching this performance a bit differently than the way she took on a character she’s played in the past, like Alice from “Alice in Wonderland.”
With a copy in her hand, DeLong admits that she’s prepared by “reading it a lot.”
“The things I’m saying, she actually wrote,” DeLong said.
“When I finished the book for the first time in sixth grade, I remember thinking, ‘Is this actually a real story?’ ” said DeLong. “I could not believe this happened to real people. I was heartbroken.”
If there’s any pressure on her playing the girl, who hid with her family during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam during World War II, she said it’s important for her to show respect to Frank.
While telling the story through Frank’s writing, she hopes it shows the level of horrors in the atrocities that occurred during that time, but also to make people aware of injustices that took place and still take place to this day.
When compared with her “Alice” performance or her resume that includes “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and “The Odyssey,” this is the most dramatic of roles she’s played, she said.
And Major said she thinks she’s up to the challenge or he might not have chose this play. The version he chose focuses more on Anne’s words than being from her father’s perspective.
“I had her in mind,” Major said. “I know my talent pool.”
Right now, with many World War II veterans dying, Major said it’s an extremely important play. It even touches on geopolitical issues of the day.
“Seeing a play like this will hopefully show that things like this are still going on,” Major said.
Because much of the story is in the same apartment, this presented both challenges and opportunities for Major and set designer Pamela Adolphi. All involved are excited for those who get tickets to see the production they’ve put together.
For $7.50 a ticket, with 294 seats in the theater, there are 7:30 p.m. shows from Oct. 23-25, with a Oct. 26 2:30 p.m. showing. They can be purchased at Milligan’s Bookstore, which is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays.