By Alisha and Jason Hagey
Brigham Young University’s Anne of Green Gables in Provo, Utah seeks to capture the wily and wonderful Anne and her hallowed Green Gables in this retelling of the book of the same name. “Anne of Green Gables” is a novel by Canadian author L. M. Montgomery. This telling of the story is adapted by Peter DeLaurier with permissions from Playscripts.
There are stories that are well known and beloved. Usually, we give these pieces the moniker of “classic” or refer to them as being from a “canon” of work. There is an expectation that each person has read, seen, or had a personal connection with the characters at hand. ”Anne of Green Gables” is one such book. The story is beloved by millions, quoted, reimagined, and retold time and time again. What is it about these classic characters and stories that catch the popular imagination?
When brother and sister Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert request from the orphanage a boy to help them on the farm, they get more than they expected. Instead of the anticipated boy, Anne Shirley arrives. Anne is very much the opposite of expectation. Over the next six years, this romantic, imaginative, hot-headed, red-headed girl wins over those she meets. She brings a richness and a love for life to a small, early twentieth-century Canadian town. By the same token, the people of Prince Edward Island, especially the aging Matthew and Marilla, offer Anne something she has longed for her whole life: stability and a home. This stability is synonymous with love. Joy and sorrow mix into one whole as the connections of home unite everyone.
As a child, I remember feeling like Anne. I am adopted and felt displaced, a child in two worlds, never quite fitting in or finding my footing. Anne is a lifeline for me, a sort of beacon of hope despite my foibles and insecurities. As an adult though, I see myself more through the eyes of Marilla. Life has ups and downs and hardships. Practicality tends to win out over flights of fancy. Impetuous behavior gives way to stability. It isn’t that being an ‘Anne’ or being a ‘Marilla’ are so disparate, but that life takes us on a journey. We grow and change and keep bits of everyone with us as we build up our own identity.
In this production, there are a few truly stand-out actors. The first that comes to mind is Calee Gardner (Diana Barry). She is committed and authentic. She steals the show with one moment of really beautiful acting. In the story, many of her friends are going off to get more education while she remains at home. She is genuinely happy for her friends and yet we feel her pain. There is no script telling us any of this, there is no focus on Diana, no best friend to hold her up. Instead, we have an actress who shows us heartbreak and loss all while being excited for her playfellows to grow up and move on while she stays behind. She is lovely. I am engaged in her story and in her grasp of subtle nuance. I hope to see more of Gardner in the future.
The next stand out is Haley F. Anderson (Mrs. Spencer, Rachel Lynde, and Mrs. Barry). Anderson brings nuance to each of these three women. She has very specific movements and speech patterns. Each of these characters is real and unique. Anderson really holds the show together, like glue, being the embodiment of Avonlea itself. With such a weight to bear, she holds each scene she is in with a daring sense of individuality. It is only when I remember I am watching a play that I realize they are all the same actor.
At the crux and center of the story itself is Mary Jane Wadley (Marilla Cuthbert). Wadley knows Marilla from beginning to end. She is actively looking to engage with her fellow actors, with her environment, and with the script. You can feel her passion and sincerity. Her Marilla is both glorious and heartbreaking. In so many ways, the real protagonist of the story is Marilla, who is softened by her interaction with Anne and whose life is forever blessed by the precocious young lady. Following her journey, especially with Wadley in the role, the developing love of an adoptive parent is evident and beautiful. Wadley captures everything with stunning truthfulness.
Serious commendation needs to be given to Esther Pielstick (Anne Shirley). She has to carry the show, almost never leaving the stage. For a sophomore in the BFA program, this is a challenging role. Pielstick captures the lightness of Anne. I would have hoped to see more tenderness and sorrow, but the script itself only keeps to the happy Anne, the ‘Glad-Girl’ Anne. In such a role, Pielstick is delightful (Glad Girls are just the description I give to all the Pollyanna and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm book characters).
As well, we need to mention Teresa Dayley Love who directs this show. Love, you can tell, has a deep connection to the source material. She fills the stage with joy and excitement. You can feel the hope radiating from moment to moment. Such emotion stems from one source connecting all pieces whether they be actors, designers, or stage crew. The guiding force behind this is Love herself. Her passion is effervescent from every corner of the stage. Love’s leadership glows in the obvious pleasure every actor takes in being a part of this production.
As a whole, the ensemble brought this production to life with enthusiasm. Anne of Green Gables has a committed and complementary cast that appears to believe deeply in telling a story that is likely personal to each member. Hannah Staley Foster (Ruby Gillis), Hallie Purser (Josie Pye), and Claire Eyestone (Jane Andrews) are refreshing in their roles as Anne’s friends. Derek Johnson (Gilbert Blythe) and Dylan Wright (Moody McPherson) are affable and lovable male counterparts to their predominantly female cast members. Reese Purser (Matthew) makes his character all his own, owning his performance, unlike any other Matthew I’ve seen performed.
The design team took great care in creating beautiful costumes, set, and lighting for the production. La Beene’s (Costume Designer) wardrobe choices mix cohesively with Nat Reed’s (Scenic Designer) set. Together, they create a reality for the characters to inhabit that makes perfect sense; balanced and united. Beene has the daunting task of taking several university age actors from prepubescents through early adulthood starting in the early 1900’s. She does this flawlessly, transforming them according to their ages and representing clearly each character as distinct individuals. Lizzie Curtis (Makeup and Hair Designer) had an especially difficult task of creating multiple wigs that needed to both represent hairstyles of the time period and distinct characters. She does this with aplomb. And the work Curtis does with the several wigs for Anne alone is fabulous. Reed’s scenic design are pieces of art. Marianne Ohran (Lighting Designer) crafts fluid moments through lighting, setting the mood and time of day without attracting attention to itself.
There are elements of pantomime throughout the production that are charming. Sometimes, though, the set gets in the way of the play. The imaginative pantomime, however, never did. The script says about the setting, “Green Gables is the heart of the play. The rest of the physical setting should have only enough substance to suggest lightly each specific time and place.” This idea is a constant battle in this production. How much set versus how little set? There are beautiful pieces made to suggest a school or a store or a train station, but, really, they aren’t necessary. They seem to detract from Green Gables itself. I would like to see more such moments of pantomime, more such requisitioning of chairs and tables and benches to become something other than a chair or table or bench rather than another large set piece being brought onstage. This being said, the use of children to handle transitions is fun. There is a group of children who are mainly responsible for all scene changes; carrying in props, moving furniture, and helping set the stage. The children add an energy and remind us who the audience is intended to be and who the story is truly for.
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One of the best moments of the play is when these unnamed children, embodying the spirit of childhood as the ‘Avonlea Story Club’ (Becca Craig, Tanner Craig, Tim Love, Caroline Pitts, and Anne Beene), march out on stage. Their footsteps sound like a train coming down the tracks as they carry with them benches that become the train itself. At their head is a young man holding a silver train whistle that he blows into to indicate the train coming into the station. The set is simply composed of three benches. It is all that is needed. The Avonlea Story Club has given us the richness of location without any need for ornamentation. The principle characters then sit on the benches and we are transported into a train. When the characters pass between cabins in the train, they sidle through an invisible, narrow hallway. There are several moments throughout the production where this kind of imaginative theatricality elevates the story into a realm that truly matches Anne’s perspective of the world. When these moments occur, the play is at its best and most engaging.
I wonder if they remove much of the set and shorten transitions if we would be given more time for character development and character connections. Such is the pacing of the script that there is a sacrifice of connection for the need to keep the piece under 120 minutes. I wish they had ten more minutes so we could have taken more moments to drink in subtext.
To illustrate, in the beginning there is a lovely battle going on between Matthew and Marilla. As they fight to determine whether or not to keep Anne, a chair keeps being removed from the table and placed in the kitchen (by Marillia) and brought back to the table to make a third place setting (by Matthew). It isn’t until Marilla brings the chair from the kitchen to the table that the decision is clearly made that Anne is to stay. It is lovely. This isn’t a scripted moment but something wonderful discovered through rehearsal and direction. Yet I wanted a moment. I wanted a beat to take in the idea and relish the great subtext. Instead, we have to clip along to the next scene sacrificing storytelling for time. It is this idea that leads me to ask, could we not lose so much movement in the set-in-order to spend more time with the characters? This in no way diminishes the artistry in the set itself. The hope is that with fewer pieces, the emphasis on Green Gables is more prominent and the grounding of home becomes the central theme. Focusing on the imagination of a location rather than the physical set may allow us to become more invested in the characters and their relationships. It would make the piece even more personal.
What carries this production of Anne of Green Gables is the sheer and apparent love for the source material. The director, every actor and designer works with passion and affection. The production is playful, imaginative, and endearing. You will fall in love with Anne Shirley and the host of Avonlea characters whether you have read the original source material, experienced the previous adaptations, or are being introduced to the wonderful world of L. M. Montgomery for the very first time. This story of friendship and family will warm your heart and enchant you long after the cast takes its final bows.
Brigham Young University presents Anne of Green Gables Story by L.M. Montgomery Script by Peter DeLaurier
BYU Pardoe Theatre, Harris Fine Arts Center, Campus Dr, Provo, UT 84602
June 1-16, 2018 7:00 PM; June 2, 7, 9, 15, 16, 2:00 PM
Every Thursday evening after the show is a brief post-show discussion with cast and crew
Tickets: $7-13
Children 6 and older are welcome
801-422-2981
Email: tickets@byu.edu
BYU Arts Facebook Page
Anne of Green Gables Facebook Event
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