Services at Beth Shalom start at 8:00 p.m., weather permitting.
Shabbat Candle Lighting Times for Fairfield
Shabbat (candle lighting) begins at 5:51 p.m. on Friday, October 28. Shabbat ends (Havdalah begins) Saturday, 6:50 p.m. in Fairfield.
Simchat Torah Thanks
Thanks to David Matt for leading the Simchat Torah Service, to Evan Finkelstein for the Drash, and for all who participated.
“Diary of Anne Frank” to be performed in Fairfield, starting October 28
Beth Shalom was happy to welcome members The Broadway Players of Fairfield High School to last week’s Simchat Torah Service. The Broadway Players of FHS, under the direction of Mr. Scott Slechta will be performing “The Diary of Anne Frank”, on October 28 – 30.
“The Diary of Anne Frank,” the play adapted from Anne Frank’s famous diary, made its theater debut in 1956. Since then, it has been reproduced countless times on stages across the country and abroad. Collaborators Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, longtime Hollywood writers, had little experience with such a story as that of the Frank family. However, Goodrich and Hackett researched the play meticulously, drawing not only on Anne’s diary but also on the experience of visiting Otto Frank and the attic hideout. This play won the Pulitzer Prize in 1956.
The Diary of Anne Frank
was an immediate critical and popular success, with reviewers particularly enthusiastic about Anne’s spirit, optimism, and nobility. The play represented the pinnacle of Goodrich and Hackett’s career. However, over the years, criticism mounted against the play for inaccurately representing Anne’s own words as well as the Jewish experience of the Holocaust.The cast this year includes: Claudia Sloat as Anne Frank, Heidi Menke as Margot Frank, Shannon Cochran as Mrs. Frank, T.J. Wood as Mr. Frank, Mukund Martin as Peter, Sarah Flinspach as Mrs.Van Daan, Tyler Breeding as Mr.VanDaan, Michael Gookin as Mr. Dussell, Rachel Biggs as Miep Giles, and Seth Miller as Mr. Kraler. Coren Hucke is the student assistant.
The show will be performed for the community the last weekend of October:
October 28 at 7:30, October 29 at 7:30, and October 30 at 2:00 at the Fairfield High School Auditorium. They show has also been chosen to perform as a main stage production at the Iowa Thespian Festival on the UNI Campus at Cedar Falls on November 11.
“This is quite an honor for the drama club, for the cast, for the school, and for the community,” said Slechta. “Our production will be showcased for an audience of nearly 1,000 students and adults from across the state.”
Fairfield has been previously showcased at the festival with their productions of “The Odyssey” and “Steel Magnolias.”
To prepare for this event, “Anne Frank” will also be staged on Tuesday, November 8 at 7:30 free of charge. However, donations will be accepted to cover production and trip costs. Furthermore, donations for the Lord’s Cupboard will be accepted. “A theme that comes through in this show is to give of self — food donations are a simple way to continue this theme in our own community,” said Slechta.