Under the direction of middle school Mrs. Hamann, EC drama presented the musical Annie. From the talent of the actors and crew to the real-life dog, the play was a wonderful production. In her director’s note, Mrs. Hamann’s shared reflections on the character Annie’s optimism.
“I want to share a line from the script that I think gives the best description of Annie’s character. The line is a directional note written for the actress playing Annie. It appears in one of the final scenes of the musical, in a moment of lost hope and desolation. The note reads, ‘For the first and only time in the play, Annie’s head is down.’ This simple statement holds great significance. Annie is not immune to the pain and suffering of this broken world. She may be a child, but she is not childish. She is not naive nor idealistic. She simply chooses, over and over again, to be optimistic in the face of sorrow. She chooses to hold onto the promise of hope, but does so without dismissing the hardships of the present. For there is nothing that can be done about a day that’s gray and lonely, except to hope that tomorrow there’ll be sun…
Most importantly, I pray you are reminded of the true hope of this world. As it is written in Romans 15:13, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.'”
