The play “Anne and Emmett” opened with the statement: “The struggle between good and evil has been with us a long time.”
The resonating sentiment kicked off the reprisal performance of the play by Theatre MSU and the Starkville Community Theatre.
Janet Langhart Cohen’s “Anne and Emmett,” tells the tale of a hypothetical conversation between two young people gone too soon: Anne Frank and Emmett Till.
The duo’s conversation takes place in a fictional setting called Memory, where Frank and Till hope to never be forgotten.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, the Birmingham Jewish Federation and the Alabama Holocaust Education Center requested the reprisal performances. 
There were three shows, with the first at the Starkville Community Theatre Nov. 10. On Nov. 13, the play ran in Birmingham, Alabama, and again on Nov. 14 for high school students.
The reprisal precedes the opening of the “Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See” exhibit at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Before the Nov. 13 show, Violins of Hope, a symphony performance played on violins of the Holocaust, performed before the play began.
Tonya Hays, an assistant professor in the communication department at Mississippi State University, directed the show. She said the reprisal was all a matter of getting everyone back together.
“We had to find new moments and make it fresh,” Hays said. “I think they were shocked by how much they remembered.”
A simple, almost barren set called for a powerful and intimate performance. A table, a few wooden chairs and a couple of trunks were the only things defining the stage in the downtown Starkville theater. The cast’s lengthy lines and emotional cries left the audience’s eyes full of tears.
The showings in Birmingham performed just the same. While the house held a larger audience, the levels of simplicity and intimacy were matched.
This is not the first time Theatre MSU and the Starkville Community Theatre performed “Anne and Emmett.” Its first performance took place in November 2020 in the McComas Hall theater.
This year, all but one performer from the initial performances reprised their roles.
Gabe Smith, an actor and director for the Starkville Community Theatre, took on the role of J.W. Milam, one of the men responsible for Till’s death. He took on the part in place of a student who graduated.
Smith stepped in to give a short yet impactful appearance onstage to say derogatory words and phrases that he said he never thought of saying outside of this role.
“I’ve never had any show that I felt more acutely aware of an audience watching me do something than I have in that moment,” Smith said in a Q&A after the dress rehearsal.
As the original cast reprised its roles, it utilized the new performances as an opportunity for reflection.
Cameron Mayers, a junior communication and political science major at MSU, played the role of Emmett Till. He said the preparation for the role in 2020 took him to the place where Till experienced his struggles: Money, Mississippi. He also said the experience of his trip gave him a greater understanding of his character.
Through all of the joy, the comeback of Theatre MSU’s production of “Anne and Emmett” arrived at a time of great demand.
Along with the Emmett Till memorial opening in Birmingham, Alabama, the newly-released “Till” movie dives deeper into Emmett’s and his mother, Mamie’s, story. On social media, an uproar of antisemitism rose through tweets and other posts from notable celebrities.
Allyn Hackman, a senior communication major, portrayed Anne with an emotional message to counter the acts of antisemitism displayed in the show.
Mayers said the summer of 2020 and major events leading up to the reprisal performance allowed him and his cast to push the idea that “all races should be treated equally.”
“It’s to truly give those who are in struggle the spotlight and to really just empower them and show them that they are not alone,” Mayers said.