The Kiss

Yesterday I volunteered to drive for a field trip to see the production of The Diary of Anne Frank.

On the drive we discussed the book (they still haven’t finished reading it in class). Since I’ve seen the play several times I felt I needed to forewarn the boys: there’s not a lot of action, it’s all dialogue, and everything happens in the annex (no exciting scene changes).

The boys nodded.

“Just so you know,” my son informed me. “Anne Frank and Peter Van Daan kiss. Consider yourself warned. We are not supposed to laugh or cheer or make any noise.”

Oh. My. Gosh.  THE KISS. I remembered what happened when I drove on this very same field trip when Timothy’s older brother was in the eighth grade: the entire theater audience – in the IMPERIAL Theater, mind you, with velvet seat cushions and plush carpets – erupted in spontaneous applause at that one, teeny tiny, very chaste kiss.

“Look,” I told the boys in the car. “I think you can handle the kiss.”

In the rearview mirror I could see them all smile, most of them sporting braces. Kisses and braces. Now THAT’S funny, but I kept that particular thought to myself.

 I understood the teacher’s warning, though. This was a serious play, with a very serious subject matter, and the students needed to act accordingly.

So sitting in the nosebleed section of the Imperial Theater I held my breath during the scene when Anne exuberantly throws her arms around Peter and kisses him. There was ONE SECOND of silence, and then it began. Nervous giggles here, scattered clapping there, and then … spontaneous applause. (To give credit to the boys’ teacher, our students didn’t clap or cheer, but they were definitely smiling, nudging, and whispering).


Once things settled down, I thought how most of the students in the theater were the exact age as Anne Frank -- a young teen who was constantly reprimanded for being frivolous, or scolded for talking too much, or told to be quiet. She was a thirteen year old girl thrust into a very adult world, and she was still able to be a kid, to laugh and joke and tease. She seized happiness where and when she could.

So I appreciated the students’ response because it was so real. At this age they can be immature at times, frustrating most of the time, but wonderful all the same.

They laughed when they probably shouldn't have ...

and it made me smile.