Crookston High School students put on a powerful public performance of their one-act play “Dark Road” on Thursday evening. The play tells the story of the change that transpires in a young German woman after she is hired as a guard at a women’s concentration camp.
The main character, Greta played by Victoria Proulx, is being interviewed throughout the production by a Jewish reporter who himself survived Auschwitz explained Georgie French who played the reporter. “We’re doing a play on the holocaust,” said French. “Basically, it’s about this guy named Daimler who was a prisoner in Auschwitz who eventually got out but wanted to know what the Nazi’s were thinking when they did these awful things. He’s trying to interrogate this woman named Greta.”
Zara Baig plays Greta’s sister and as the story unfolds the two sisters’ paths diverge, with Greta ultimately playing a role in her sister’s imprisonment and death at the camp. “I am Greta’s sister, Lise,” said Baig. “I’m a sympathist for the Jews. I want to help them. I see everything that is going on around me and I see that it’s wrong. I want to do everything I can to help. I see that my sister is slowly descending into darkness and on the wrong path. I really want to try to prevent that and help her change. In the end, I see that it’s too late but I still want to do what’s right and I end up paying the price.”
Ella Kiel, who plays several roles said there are tough moments to listen to during the play. “I am a couple of different characters,” said Kiel. “I’m a prisoner in the camp, a woman taken from her home and brought into the camp. And then I’m the wife of a high=up Nazi guy who is observing an experiment that is happening to one of the prisoners. That’s really hard to listen to the first time. That was rough to hear.”
The play had a much darker connotation than other recent plays at Crookston High School. French said the play opens your eyes more to the holocaust. “It’s interesting doing a darker performance,” said French. “Seeing that a lot of past performances from other schools have been darker I’ve been wanting to do one for a while to get that opportunity. The holocaust is a topic you hear a lot about but getting to be in a play about it opens your eyes a lot more.”
Baig said preparing for and performing the play has been an introspective experience. “Preparing for this play was interesting,” said Baig. “It was different than last year. Last year was a very hopeful and empowering play but this play is much more impactful. It’s a bit darker. You have to get into a different sort of mood. It’s very introspective. It makes you think about what really is on the inside. It makes you remember things and makes you think about maybe I should be more careful. Maybe I should pay more attention to family. Maybe I should be more considerate of others.”
Kiel said it’s an emotional play. “At first I was a little iffy on it,” said Kiel. “Reading through the script was tough. There was a couple of parts I didn’t want to read but I did. It’s weird because the more and more you do it the less terrible it seems but this play is just constantly awful. Every single time, as you do it over and over again, it just feels terrible. Especially the point of view of the prisoner, I just basically feel like garbage the whole time. It’s really hard to think that people actually went through this and hard not to let your emotions get the best of you. It’s really difficult.”
The public performance was the last time the students are scheduled to perform the play; however, they did win the virtual subsection competition and will next be judged in the section competition.
Cast & Crew –
Greta – Victoria Proulx
Daimler – Georgie French
Lise – Zara Baig
Commandant – Logan Melvie
Ingrid – Linnea French
Person/prisoner/woman – Samantha Rezac, Brianna Colborn, and Ella Kiel
Guard/Doctor – Ethan Erdman
Lights/Assistant to the Director – Sophia Rezac
Director – Beth Carlson
Costumers – Phyllis Hagen and Gaye Wick
Set Builder – Pat Seidel
