"The Diary of Anne Frank" at Forum Theatre Company. Photo by Shance Brentham.

"The Diary of Anne Frank" at Forum Theatre Company. Photo by Shance Brentham.

Molly Franco as Anne Frank. Photo by Shance Brentham.

  

The Diary of Anne Frank

by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett

Presented by Forum Theatre Company

November 12 - 14

at Will Rogers Auditorium
3401 W. Lancaster Ave.
Fort Worth, TX 76107
817-707-7196

$10-$20

7:30pm Thursday & Friday; 2pm Saturday
Runtime: Two hours, 20 minutes with one intermission

With its debut production of Albert Hackett and Frances Goodrich's play The Diary of Anne Frank, Fort Worth's new Forum Theatre Company is off to a bang-up start.

Forum fancies itself a youth theater with professional staff and designers, and its inaugural show certainly has pro-level  polish. On the large stage at Will Rogers Auditorium, Bob Lavallee has built an exquisite raked set of the Amsterdam apartment where Frank, her family and a few others hid out from the Nazis. To represent the idea that this incredible story was captured through a girl's diary, pieces of paper swoosh up the upstage left side of the set, and the music stand on which a cellist plays heartbreaking accompaniment is a burst of pages. Stunning, really.

The costumes, by Meredith Hinton, add to the overall effect and helps prove that Forum means business.

Andy Baldwin has done a fine job with directing the show, too. The blocking feels instinctive as a large cast maneuvers in one small space, and the tension develops as cabin fever sets in.

But keep in mind that this is youth theater, so all of the roles are played by teenagers. That works out, certainly, for the title character and a few others. Molly Franco is a terrific Anne Frank, precocious and ever-hopeful. Ryan Ivey is charmingly honest as Peter, the son of another family hiding out with the Franks, and with whom Anne eventually develops a crush. Braden Wilkerson also excels as Anne's older sister, Margot, although that character doesn't have much to do.

It's a little trickier with the adults, though. The actors playing Anne's parents, Tyler Martin and Chloe Hobbie, are impressive, considering their ages; but James Sanders and Lindsey Janacek aren't as convincing as Mr. and Mrs. Van Daan, neither is Jackson Kirkman as Mr. Dussel, another stowaway in their hideout.

They all definitely earn an A for effort, however, not to mention one for committing to an important story. The performance seen for this review was a school matinee, and the audience of middle and high schoolers seemed enthralled throughout the two-plus hours. One of Forum's missions is to educate on social and political issues, and they had a Holocaust survivor on hand to talk to the children after the production. The show is also accompanied by an exhibit from the Dallas Holocaust Museum.

It is commendable that Forum is preparing young actors for the types of roles they'll play in high school and college, but it couldn't hurt to throw in a real professional, too. For instance, when Forum does To Kill a Mockingbird in 2010, the students could only benefit from working with a local adult pro playing Atticus Finch. Because no matter how talented, it's doubtful audiences would buy a 17-year-old as the legendary lawyer.

But if it looks as good as Anne Frank, it will be easier to take seriously.