THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 15, 1995 TAG: 9503140123
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Theater Review
SOURCE: Montague Gammon III
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The term ``parlor theatricals'' might be coined to describe the activities of small amateur groups such as the troupe Actin' in His Name, which is performing ``The Diary of Anne Frank.''
The comparison is to parlor gatherings in the days before radio, when friends would come together at a piano to play and sing the musical hits of the day.
Though the small performing area at Community United Methodist may not have all the intimacy of a parlor, the production has the unmistakable aura of a gathering of old friends.
In fact, the performers are largely drawn from members of the church, whose Education Committee sponsors the theatrical troupe, and the 50-person audience last Friday included a number of their fellow parishioners.
What is important in a group like this is the satisfaction that the cast and crew find in getting a show mounted, from trying their hand at performing and knowing that their friends in the audience appreciate their earnest efforts.
They cannot be held to the same standards of performance by which one would judge community groups such as the little theaters of Virginia Beach or Norfolk or Portsmouth. It is enough for them to know that they spoke their lines with some feeling and went through the motions of their characters' lives on what is a notably convincing set.
They could learn something about how picking up cues promptly, that is to say responding without hesitation to what their fellow actors say or do, can improve the pace of a show. The first act of ``Diary of Anne Frank'' ran almost 1 1/2 hours.
It is worth noting that a couple of the cast members came not from Community United Methodist, but from Beth Chaverim Synagogue, and that the next show Actin' in His Name has planned will be a joint venture between those two houses of worship and a Roman Catholic church.
Such an ecumenical effort is especially appropriate for this play, which chronicles the life of eight Jews who hid from the Nazis in Amsterdam. It is told through the eyes of young Anne Frank who was 13 when her family went into hiding and not much past her 15th birthday when they were discovered and shipped off to the concentration camps.
David B. Springstead Sr. directed ``Diary.'' Mark Jakobowski played Otto Frank, Martha Springstead played his wife Martha, Stephanie Johnson played their elder daughter Margot and Jennifer West had the title role.
Fred LeFevre and Peggy Vaudt had the roles of fellow refugees Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan. Their shy teenage son, who became Anne's youthful love interest, was played by Tim Jarrell. Nate Rubin had the part of the elderly dentist, Jan Dussell. The young woman Meip, and Mr. Kraler, who together helped the Franks stay in hiding, were performed by Mary Jakobowski and Dale Boeckman.
A program note dedicated the production to the memory of the 6,000,000 Jews who, like most of the characters in the play, died at the hands of the Nazis. ILLUSTRATION: WHEN & WHERE
``The Diary of Anne Frank,'' dramatized by Frances Goodrich and
Albert Hackett, continues at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at
Community United Methodist Church, 1072 Old Kempsville Road.
Tickets, $5 adults, $4 student. Call 495-1021.
by CNB