Play teaches history
Pairing entertainment with historical education, “And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the world of Anne Frank,” portrays the lives of those who lived through the Holocaust.
“I remember doing a report on a concentration camp in middle school,” said Machaela Burt, a senior studying Theatre Education. “I didn’t learn anything from it and it wasn’t that interesting. This show lets you see characters actually experience the events of the Holocaust and it becomes more real and relatable. It’s easier to connect with the past.”
Burt is the Educational Director for the USU Theatre Arts Department’s production of “And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank” by James Still. The play uses videos of real Holocaust survivors as the basis for the action. It invites the audience into the worlds of the characters before and during the scarring events of World War II, providing a more interactive learning experience for its intended audience of middle school students.
“This is a play about Ed Silverberg, Eva Schloss, and Anne Frank’s experiences through the Holocaust,” said Katie Marsh, a senior in the BFA Acting program and a member of the touring company. “It’s not about the Holocaust, it’s about the experiences specific people had and how it affected their lives.”
“I play Eva Schloss and it’s been a real treasure to dig up some of her biographies and read them,” Marsh said. “They’ve taught me that it wasn’t the people who were strong who made it through the Holocaust, it was just luck. I’ve loved learning how human beings always try to be the best they can but that things happen and it gets tough, like it did for Eva.”
Matt Omasta, Ph.D., is the head of theatre education at USU and the director of this production.
“If you don’t know your history you tend to repeat it, as the saying goes,” Omasta said. “Many issues that arise in the play are universal. This is a show about people who survived that experience and about how the Holocaust came to be. That’s one of the essential questions of the play: How is it that this happened in the first place, and how can we make sure it never happens again?”
Burt’s responsibilities as the Educational Director encompass the students’ experiences with the show.
“My job is to provide additional resources to middle school students and teachers to continue their education about the Holocaust,” Burt said.
“The show is really quite emotional and we want to be sure to help students navigate the strong emotions that arise after viewing the performance,” she said. “The post-show forum is a way in which we are able to do that immediately after students have experienced the show.”
“It’s important that we don’t just throw students into this emotional roller coaster and expect them to figure everything out by themselves,” Burt said. “We want to guide them through some of the terrible things they experience by watching a show about the Holocaust.”
“I think the educational portion is the most important part of this project,” Marsh said. “After the Holocaust, Eva Schloss traveled around the world to spread a message and that’s what we’re trying to do. We’re spreading a message about how intolerant thoughts can be damaging to the people around us. We want to help students figure out why this message is important to them personally and who they want to be in society.”
“The idea of casting out those who are different is in no way an old topic,” Burt said. “Ostracization and hatred happens everywhere. It hasn’t gone away. It probably won’t go away. Just because it isn’t happening in the same way doesn’t mean that mankind has learned their lesson. We like to think that we learn from the mistakes of our past, but in truth they keep recurring, just in different forms.”
“Projects like ours with an educational side encourage students to learn from the past and to make intelligent and informed decisions for their own futures,” Burt said. “Middle school students can learn a lot from this, and that’s our goal.”
“Open your mind,” Marsh said. “Don’t hold on to prejudice or hate. It doesn’t do any good for you or your friends or your enemies. Remember that through life and have respect for others. If young students can get that, this will be worth all the traveling and work and rehearsal and everything.”
The touring company will begin touring middle schools around the state beginning this week. The group will also host one public performance of “And Then They Came For Me” this Saturday, Oct. 13, at 7:30pm in the TSC Auditorium. Admission is free and open to the public.
– liz.gabbitas@aggiemail.usu.edu