Starting Friday, May 5, the Portal Players Dramatic Society will bring a classic Canadian tale to life on stage at the Capitol Theatre.
The STAGES Youth Theatre Company will present a locally adapted production of “Anne of Green Gables” from May 5-7 and May 11-13. The play, which is based on an adaptation by Wendy Karpuik, is directed by Teresa Drew and produced by Brent Ronning.
The production features the hard work and dedication of the advanced stages students from the STAGES Youth Theatre Company.
“They do all aspects of it,” said Ronning. “There are adult mentors, but for the most part, it is the students.”
The students aren’t only acting, but also doing the behind-the-scenes work, from the stage management to the lighting to the sound. They even joined in to help paint the set, which was designed by Karpuik.
“We try and re-use as much as we can, because plays are expensive,” said Drew.
This will be the Portal Players’ entry in the North Island Zone Drama Festival, which this year runs from May 14 to 20 in Courtenay. It is the first time that the advanced stages students will represent the Portal Players there.
“We’ll be taking the whole set to Courtenay,” said Drew. “We have to get it all set up by five, and then the show starts at seven. Who knows what’s going to happen.”
Because this year is Canada’s 150th celebration, all of the entries in the festival this year had to be Canadian.
“There is no production of Anne of Green Gables that is Canadian,” Ronning pointed out. Anne of Green Gables: The Musical is Canadian and has been performed continuously since 1965, making it Canada’s longest-running musical. But Karpuik’s adaptation is the first time the 1908 book has been adapted straight to Canadian stageplay.
“We couldn’t find a play written by a Canadian,” said Drew. “But the book had gone into public domain, so we made it into a play.”
Some elements have been taken out or re-worked for the sake of length, but for those who are familiar with the Anne of Green Gables story, Karpuik’s adaptation will follow the first novel from beginning to end, with Anne’s journey from orphan girl to a schoolteacher in Avonlea.
“There are a lot of dresses, a lot of wigs, a lot of costumes. It’s pretty ambitious,” said Ronning. “There are no live horses on stage, though.”
Drew agreed, “It’s a costume-heavy progression of age, which means [Anne] can’t wear the same costume all the way through.”
When it comes to wigs, for example, there are specific styles for different ages.
“It was a challenge,” Drew laughed.
Last year, the STAGES company brought The Diary of Anne Frank to life on stage. Previously, they’ve performed Little Women and But Why Bump Off Barnaby?
“I try to pick different things for the kids,” said Drew. “The first year was just to see if we could do it. The next year was a farce. This play is the most ambitious one we’ve done, by far.”
Many of the students change from one character to another, and some characters, like Anne, are double cast so that all students get equal stage time.
“They have to play close attention to the show,” said Drew. “Especially Anne. Anne has a lot of lines. Anne pretty much never stops talking.”
“They’re really quite dynamic and interesting,” Ronning said of the young players. “They really raised the bar on this one.”
“My feeling is kids aren’t given enough credit,” said Drew. “If they think they can do it, they can do it. And they’re proving it day after day.”
The show opens on May 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre. Advance tickets are $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors, and are available at the theatre box office, the Rollin Art Centre, and at atthecapitol.org.
