SPRINGFIELD, Mich.–In the midst of Holocaust Remembrance month, What a Do has paired up with several organizations to help people remember what must never be forgotten. Its contribution to the activities is a production of The Diary of Anne Frank, dramatized by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and directed by Randy Wolfe.

This emotional production is one that inspires passion, for it draws you into the lives of the eight people who went into hiding in Amsterdam along with all their hopes and fears. On the stage before the audience, they become very real people–people living in constant danger under cramped conditions.

This adaptation frequently quotes directly from the diary, reading the entries over the speakers as the actors make their costume changes on stage. The eight people in hiding almost never get to leave the stage once they have entered into the hiding place.

What a Do has a gem of an actor in Averi Beck, a junior in high school who frequently stars in their productions. She’s had title roles in Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea and also appeared in 1984, Little Women, Orphan Train and many others. She plays the title role in this production, and once again shows she is a versatile, powerhouse actor who has an acting prowess equal to any adult.

Beck infuses Anne with an energy and a delightful personality. She may grate on her fellow hideaways, but never on the audience. Her optimism is genuine and she creates an emotionally complex character who is struggling both with adolescence and the suffering of the Nazi regime.

But the play isn’t just her story, though it is all told through her perspective and her insightful eyes. Director Wolfe has put together a cast of What a Do regulars–ones he works well with and with whom he is able to bring out a variety of emotions. There is the feel of an ensemble to this production, an ensemble that has worked often together and grown to trust each other. They are a generous cast. While they are always on stage and in character, doing things upon the stage even when they are out of the main area, no one ever steals the scene from each other nor draws away focus.

There is an intensity about everyone’s performances; they never forget the danger they are in nor the stresses of being cooped up for years with other individuals who are different from themselves.

Joe Dely is Mr. Frank, Anne’s father and the glue that holds such diverse people together. There are echoes of his Atticus Finch, which he played in What a Do’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Both characters are men of integrity and Dely finds that strong center in both of them. His Otto Frank is powerful when grieving, but even more powerful when he is reaching out with love and compassion to his family and the others in hiding with him. He never hesitates to do the right thing even when the world around him is filled with evil.

Troy Randall-Kilpatrick has the challenging part of playing one of the least sympathetic of the characters in hiding, Mr. Van Daan. Randall-Kilpatrick doesn’t hesitate to play up those aspects of the character that puts him at odds with his son, quarrelling with his wife and acting in selfish ways that contrast him with the integrity of Mr. Frank.

Mrs. Van Daan has her prickly side and Rachel Markillie is able to bring that out while still making her a very authentic character. She has her moments of being likeable, but it is easy to see why Anne has little patience for her and sees her as a person to be endured.

Mrs. Frank can also be a challenging role; through most of the play, Anne is at odds with her mother, pushing her away, convinced she cannot understand her—just as she admits she cannot understand her mother. Stacy (Vest) Little finds the balance between being the mother that Anne describes and the mother who genuinely loves and wants to connect with her daughter.

There isn’t a weak performance in the cast from the title role to the smallest part. Each actor brings a commitment to telling a dramatic story with all of its tension, emotion and heartbreak.

Scenic Designer Samantha Snow’s set seems almost too big to represent the cramped quarters that these families lived under. In particular, Peter van Daan’s room seemed too big considering how the others described it. The What a Do stage is a wide one and it might have been better to use less of it for this show.

There were several historical broadcasts from the period that started the acts. Some of these lacked the sound quality of the other recordings, but they did add verisimilitude and a sense of history to the production.

Thomas Koehler did a fine job of dressing the set, and filling it with props that helped tell the story and fit in with the period.

The audience was quick on its feet when the show came to an end, voicing their approval of a show that was emotionally moving with strong performances. What a Do invites its audience to grieve, to laugh, and most of all, to remember.

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