News

LIGHTNING REVIEW: Young talent blooms in 'White Rose'

YouTheatre actors perform in 'The White Rose.' [PHOTO BY DANE WHITLOCK/FLAT ROCK PLAYHOUSE]

By Bill Moss, Published: January 16, 2015

Given the pint-size stature of some of the actors, the Nazi swastika armbands in the opening scene of "The White Rose" make for a startling image. If kids so young could be drawn into Hitler's vision of society, what hope is there for Germany? Well, none. Which is the idea.

The theme plays out for the next two hours of an extraordinary drama made all the more impressive because it was created by a 17-year-old high school student. A self-described "history geek," Sarah Hart studied the White Rose resistance, a college-based movement that attempted to turn back Hitler's rise in the early years of World War II, and decided to write a play about it.
"I wanted to make a student-driven project and I thought it would be cool if it was a student-driven story as well," Ms. Hart  said during intermission of the show. Ms. Hart carried a notebook in her hand for director's notes, which she presumably would review with the cast after opening night.
The three-day run of "The White Rose" ends with the Friday night performance at 7:30 on the Mainstage of the Flat Rock Playhouse.
The home-schooled daughter of Jill and Fred Hart, Sarah is a senior. She's looking at college choices — leaning toward the ones that will give her the best scholarship. She'd like to attend Liberty University but said it's expensive. It's hard to believe that the line on her resume about writing and then directing a play on the Mainstage of the State Theatre of North Carolina would not draw the attention of the admissions and financial aid office of many a university. Memo to college admission officers who have Ms. Hart's application in their stack: If you do not give this young lady a long look, you're missing a big opportunity for your campus.
Credit for this production goes, too, to Lisa K. Bryant, the Flat Rock Playhouse artistic director and former North High theater teacher who was impressed when she saw the show at the Hendersonville Little Theatre last fall.
"Sarah approached me right before the holidays to possibly present this at Flat Rock Playhouse and I leapt at the opportunity to showcase the talents of these truly remarkable young adults," she said.
The young people in the show all perform amazingly well. In fact, the production on opening night had more muffs in lighting and sound than in dropped lines or missed cues.
Justin White as Hans and Andrew Torres as Alexander are the earnest young college students who see that if they cannot stand against the Third Reich no one will. Louise Cummins as Sophie, Hans' sister, delivers an impressive performance. A 14-year-old eighth grader, she plays a college-age woman a few older, as many of the cast members do. As Lucas, a friend of the idealistic resistance movement members, Jackson Pelz stands out. Torn by his nationalistic loyalty and love for Sophie, Lucas is the very representation of the emotional wreckage that comes from the madman's attempt to take over the western world. Faith Augustine, as Emma Greenburg, also shines.
"We need a revolution not of weapons of words," the hero Hans says late in the second act.
Lucas has already seen too much to know that that is not so. A revolution of words cannot stop the fuhrer. Only Allied bombs and a courageous infantry could do that.
In the end Hans and Sophie distribute their leaflets anyway, and pay with their lives. And yet the story is triumphant and will renew the audience's faith in the power of young people to make a difference. We can thank Sarah Hart for reminding us of that spring of good hope, and for demonstrating with her own work that the promise of the next generation shines brightly in our town yet today.

* * * *

Sponsored by Miller's Fine Drycleaning, "The White Rose" is performed at 7:30 tonight. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling the Playhouse box office at 828-693-0731, toll-free at 866-732-8008 or online at www.flatrockplayhouse.org.