NHS Senior Directs Anne Frank Production

By Tanjua Damon

The Newtown High School Drama Club’s fall production of The Diary of Anne Frank is compelling, and the student director hopes that the audience is moved the performance.

Michael Sobo, a senior at the high school, is the play’s student director. Student productions at the high school follow a cycle of dramas, comedies, one-act plays, and Shakespeare; this year’s production is a drama.

“It’s a drama year. I went searching through dramas. I could have picked something a little more light,” he said. “This is a very heavy drama. It gets to you. It hits you where it is supposed to. It’s a very well written play.”

A cast of 13 will entertain the audience in two acts for almost two hours in three performances, November 16 and 17. The fall production is always the one where the audience sits on the stage and the set is built in the auditorium.

“All 13 people in the cast, aside from the three Nazis, are on stage the entire time,” Mike said. “You have to get that feeling that they are trapped in the attic and have no where to go.”

The selection of The Diary of Anne Frank was done long before the tragedy hit the United States September 11, but Mike admits that the emotions and people’s acceptance of each other now fits well the feelings of the play that will be presented.

“The timing is perfect. Now is the time for people to see a compassionate story such as this,” he said. “It shows us what the horrors of the lack of acceptance of other people can bring. Everyone comes to the play knowing it’s a true story, yet it still has that powerful message.”

Mike admits that the play’s content is not easy to direct every day after school, but the cycle of a play and how it works is what draws the young director to the field.

“It’s tough to do just because you’re sitting in rehearsals with people you like to have fun with and you are talking about the Holocaust,” he said. “But the process of the play is fun. We’ve started to get serious about it. The cast is really close.”

He hopes that the fall production will leave the audience with emotion and that the message will have a place in their hearts.

“It’s a moving story,” he said. “In the history of Newtown High School there have been very few plays that have meaning. This has meaning. It’s impressionable.”

Mike is applying for early decision at New York University’s film school. He wants to study to be a director. He is thankful for the opportunity to experience directing and to be able to create something that people see through his eyes.

“Being a student director is fun and it’s tough because directing your peers can be difficult,” Mike said. “For the most part I get cooperation. In terms of putting together a play, it’s my passion. It’s one of the things I’m truly happy doing. I’m trying to get some good experiences under my belt before I go out into the real world.”

The Diary of Anne Frank is known by many, but that is just part of the reason why Mike chose it to direct. He also took it on because he knew the drama would be challenging for the actors as well as the audience.

“This story is the most world-recognized. People can relate to it because the characters are similar to people today,” Mike said. “Everyone hates to see in the end when they are captured. For one hour and 50 minutes, you live with these people in the attic and in the end your heart gets thrown into your stomach.”

The play will be performed three times – November 16 at 7:30 pm, and November 17 at 2 and 8 pm. Tickets are $11 for adults and $7 for students and senior citizens. It will be held in the Newtown High School auditorium.