The Teen Advisory Board attended the play, “The Diary of Anne Frank,” at the Woodland Opera House. We were very grateful to receive free tickets from Meg and Tom Stallard so that 25 TAB members and 6 parents could watch this moving, true story of a young Jewish teen girl who had to go into hiding with her family during World War II.

Natalie, a sophomore at Pioneer High writes:

I really liked the play of The Diary of Anne Frank because it was interesting and funny. First, it was interesting to see what it was like from Anne’s point of view. I liked how her voice was narrating whenever she was writing in her diary. It helped me understand what living in hiding must have been like. It’s hard to imagine not having the freedom to do whatever you want and go outside whenever you want.

It made me feel bad for Anne Frank, her family, and all the other people who experienced something like that. I think the play made the story easier to understand because I could actually see it happening. The actors did a very good job of portraying each character’s personality and made me see what the situation was like from different perspectives. I really felt like I connected with the characters, almost as if I was there with them. I liked how the play had some funny parts and wasn’t just super serious, although the ending was sad.

I learned from the play that I should appreciate the freedom that I have. It makes me sad that Anne Frank never got to be free and do all the things she wanted to do. Overall, I enjoyed the play and it helped me understand the story better. 

Abigail, 12th grader at Woodland Christian wrote a short essay about the play which can be found here.Anne Frank

Yasmin, 9th grader at Pioneer writes:

The Anne Frank play was very inspiring. I learned a lot more about Anne Frank and what she went through. I couldn’t even imagine living in that time and being afraid everywhere I turned. And worrying whether I would be taken or if I would be split up from my family. Anne Frank must have been really scared but she made the most of it and always stayed positive.

I learned that Anne was a very hyper girl and that she annoyed a lot of people. It certainly enriched my understand of World War Two and the atrocities that occurred. I learned that in the face of danger to always stay positive whenever you are scared. The play was funny at times and sad others. I thought it was really funny when Anne tried to pet the cat and Peter didn’t let her. But the ending was sad, knowing that they were taken and separated. It almost brought me to tears knowing Anne died a month before she was supposed to be released.

The Anne Frank play was sad but funny. I have learned a lot seeing this experience first hand and I would have never thought Anne could stay positive through it all. All together this was a great play and very entertaining. I never thought life was that bad back then.