Anne of Green Gables
Photo: David Hou
I’m sure when it was announced that Stratford was going to do a version of Anne of Green Gables, there were probably a lot of groans saying, “Oh no, not another Anne of Green Gables” because we all love the book and know it backwards and forwards. The production, however, turned out to be one of the surprise hits of the season because the secret ingredient was
Kat Sandler. Sandler is one of Canada’s comic geniuses. She is an actress, a writer, and a director, and is a brilliant comic force. Whoever commissioned her to do the adaptation, it was a totally inspired choice because Sandler’s approach to Anne of Green Gables turned out to be is brilliant.
It started off with actor Maev Beattie coming out in period costume and announcing that there were 12 different schools in the audience who all gave their little cheer at the mention of their name. She then said that she had rented this costume because her reading club was doing Anne of Green Gables. At that point, six actors in modern dress jumped up from the audience and said, “Rather than this dull, boring reading club, let’s do Anne of Green Gables our way”.
“Our way” swept actor Beattie up into their midst and started the live action. These six would all play characters in the story as needed by adding on bits of costumes with Beattie taking on the role of gossipy Rachel Lynde. Just by picking up a prop or two, putting on a hat, putting on a shawl, adding a skirt — they became the beloved characters in the novel. And that is how the show carried on. This chorus, as they are called, brought a liveliness that outmatched any staid reading group and so we got a living, breathing rendering of the story.
Our first sight of Green Gables was a little house on a pedestal in a spotlight. Then we see Anne, actress Caroline Toal, on a cart with Tim Campbell as Matthew Cuthbert. And I have to say that Sarah Dodd as Marilla Cuthbert and Tim Campbell as Matthew Cuthbert are the Marilla and Matthew of your dreams. The kindly Matthew who says so little and the tart, stern Marilla, performed by two superior, longtime Stratford actors, do a consummate job in the roles. And as for Caroline Toal, she is an effervescent Anne Shirley, who just sparkles with colour. She has the character down perfectly, intelligent, smart, and imbued with the restless energy and the incredible imagination that is Anne.
Along with Rachel Lynde, Anne Shirley, and Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert are all in period costume. While the chorus is in modern dress, the costume bits they add to become other people are in period.
The chorus are a lively group of actors who bring a lot to the stage: Julie Lumsden as Diana Barry, Jordan Hall as Gilbert Blythe, Jennifer Villaverde as Prissy Andrews, Josue Laboucane as Moody Spurgeon, who’s very funny, Helen Belay as Josie Pye, and of all things Stephen Hao as Jane Andrews, a guy playing a girl — are very, very amusing. They’re also responsible for bringing in the set pieces, like when it’s the schoolroom, they bring in the desks, and one plays the teacher – in other words, they carry out whoever and whatever is needed to tell the story. Kat Sandler’s adaptation is bright, loving, and full of affection for Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel.
And then you can’t be Kat Sandler without the Kat Sandler touch.
In the middle of the second act, wouldn’t you know, we’re suddenly in modern times. Anne 2.0. We’re in 2025, and we’re hearing words like Pilates — Rachel Lynde, I think, is taking a Pilates class!
The kids in the audience roared with laughter at all the modern references. Only Kat Sandler would have thought of Anne 2.0. We still have Anne Shirley, Matthew, Marilla, Rachel Lynde, and Diana Barry, but they are creatures of today’s world, and the whole story translates effortlessly. No one was expecting it, and the kids were lapping it up. At the end of the performance, of their own volition, these twelve schools stood up and gave a standing ovation. That’s how much they loved it and, more to the point, got Kat Sandler’s 2.0 Anne that stayed true to the beats of the original story,
When that darling little Green Gables house on a pedestal seem to open up, Joanna Yu’s set had a scaffold look — the upstairs and downstairs, the kitchen, the porch, the bedroom, the schoolroom. It became everything we needed just by the addition of set pieces. The production was so imaginative that it asked the audience to use their imagination too. The lighting by Davida Tkach was an instrument of mood and very effective. Red was important for Anne — every time her mood changed, the red light around her shifted. The hard white spotlight also followed Anne, underscoring her emotional shifts. It was an edgy choice to keep those lights around her.
In the final analysis, we had imaginative design by Joanna Yu, imaginative writing and direction by Kat Sandler, and a lively ensemble that kept the story humming along. Maev Beattie was delightful as Rachel Lynde, swept along by this enthusiastic chorus. Moving into the modern 2.0 world was clever, and the young audiences howled at every modern reference. Anne worked in the twenty-first century — she really did.