MINNEAPOLIS — Written by Janet Langhart Cohen, "Anne & Emmett" highlights the racial intolerance and hatred Anne Frank and Emmett Till endured.
Now, Youth Performance Company is performing the powerful play, with 14-year-old actor Nicholas Livingston playing the role of 14-year-old Emmett.
"I just try to honor his legacy," Livingston said. "[I'm] learning details about the story I didn't know. Like Emmett Till having a speech problem, which I can relate to because I have one as well. Him whistling through it, and then ultimately getting killed because he's vulnerable when he whistles, it's just, wow. It's just, the play was really powerful for me."
Ella Kozak and Nicola Wahl share the role of Anne, alternating between performances.
"Not only are we representing Anne, we're representing the millions of people who died during the Holocaust," Kozak said. "Mentally preparing for that has been hard but I think it's very important to me that these stories are told."
While Livingston attends Northfield Middle School, Kozak and Wahl are each homeschooled. Kozak and Wahl admit, prior to auditions, they were familiar with Anne's story — but not Emmett's.
"It was really eye-opening," Wahl said. "Being in a show about something is the best way to really learn."
YPC artistic director and founder Jacie Knight directed the show. She says it took about four years to obtain the rights to produce it. Then, due to omicron, performances were pushed back from February. It was a blessing in disguise as the cast took the extra time to research their roles.
"What's going on in Ukraine is very paralleled to the Anne Frank story," Knight said. "The racial disparity and all the many racial crimes that have happened certainly tie into the Emmett Till story … At the end of the show, there is a very strong call to action and so we hope people will heed that."
Today, Emmett's family members are on a mission to "Create a Legacy of Hope" through the Emmett Till Legacy Foundation. Some of them attended the performance Thursday afternoon and spoke to the cast afterward.
Anne & Emmett continues through Sunday, May 15, at the Howard Conn Fine Arts Center within Plymouth Congregational Church.
Knight is set to retire this summer after inspiring youth across the Twin Cities for the last 33 years.
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