Halle Hinton’s favorite hobby is acting, and that all started in the fifth grade when she was cast in her church’s Christmas play.  Since then, she has been avidly auditioning for roles, her first high school one being in the ensemble for “The Wizard of Oz.”  For her freshman year, she decided to step out and audition for another play, however, this one was different from all of the fictional entertainment plays she has been in.

The work that has to be done in order to portray a character is tedious, and to depict someone that has once lived before can be even more stressful.  This describes what freshman Halle Hinton had to do in order to play the title role in the play, “The Diary of Anne Frank.”

When Hinton found out that the drama crew would be doing “The Diary of Anne Frank” for their next play, she saw an opportunity that she had been waiting for.  The role of Anne was something she had been dreaming about since reading the play’s script in middle school, Hinton specifically saying, “After reading the play [in middle school], I knew I wanted to act in it some day.”  She added on that not only did she love history, but also theater, so the historical play felt right to audition for. 

And her feeling proved true, because once roles were announced, Hinton ended up getting the role she had been wishing for: Anne Frank.

Hinton felt blessed to have the role she had been wanting, and was very obviously grateful for being able to play Anne.  However, portraying the character right posed a challenge for her.  Hinton claims that she struggled with getting the right personality for Anne, saying that she was a happy girl, but not too happy because of the situation that the teenage girl was in.  Due to this, Hinton felt that in order to connect with her character more, she had to do some more work than just memorizing her part.

“I prepared for the role by taking my time working on the lines,” she said.  “I also did more research about the Holocaust and Anne’s story.”

The intense preparation that Hinton did for the play proved to be worth it in the end.  She was able to portray Anne’s personality outstandingly and never missed a beat for the three days that the play showed.  And while she was incredibly happy with her performance, there was another thing that Hinton was proud of.  When asked what the most memorable thing during production was, she gave a big-hearted response.

“The most memorable thing would most definitely have to be doing curtain call for our final show,” Hinton said with a smile on her face.  “It was a surreal experience getting to step out and hear everyone cheering while knowing I was able to tell Anne’s story and educate others [about the Holocaust].”

Hinton feels that educating others of historical events is extremely important, especially when it comes to something so inhumane, like the Holocaust.  She says that this play is able to put a picture to the words you hear and really helps people see what life might have been like for someone like Anne, who had to go into hiding just for the sake of survival.  Fantastic work to Halle, as well as the rest of the cast, for the amazing performance!