The curtain rises, but there is still a gauzy layer separating the cast and the audience. We in the crowd watch the characters sing to us like we're sharing a filmy dream. It looks like an idyllic Edwardian village in Canada, but as that thin film rises we are let in on the truth - that life is far from idyllic in those times and in those places, but even when times and attitudes are hard, there are also green gables in which to take refuge.
In the latest production by Prince George director and choreographer Judy Russell, we too get to take refuge in a classic tale laid out for us like a picnic blanket on a grassy meadow.
Anne of Green Gables was never Canada's answer to Pollyanna. The novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery were set in sunny Avonlea, P.E.I. but she wrote precocious protagonist Anne Shirley to be our eyes and ears back into a time when our society was struggling to find its heart.
What it already had was its voice. Music was a foundation of culture in those early years of the 20th century, so it feels fair and natural for these characters to often express themselves in song. Anne of Green Gables: The Musical doesn't try to distract the audience with kitchy showtunes. It has a powerful story to tell and the musical numbers fit within. They don't pretentiously try to steal the attention.
Instead we in the audience get to melt back in our chairs and soak in the delicious grumpiness of Tracy Summerville as town curmudgeon Rachael Lynde, the teenage angst of Emma Forgeron as jilted Josie Pye, a subtly star-quality portrayal of best friend Diana by Madison Hill and the rest of the villagers of Avonlea.
Some of these characters crackle with life, thanks to the original writing of Montgomery, but the experience is flavoured by the acting talent Russell assembled for this production. Calling longtime dramatic actor Jim Cluff our of retirement to portray Matthew Cuthbert, the softhearted but practical farmer of Green Gables, was a masterstroke. He was sensationally humble, subversively funny, and at one key point, many in the audience were openly weeping thanks to Cluff's golden touch.
The antithesis of this is his stiff, overbearing sister Marilla. Kathy Pereira is easy with a laugh and quick with smiles in real life, but she dispensed the crusty Marilla like porridge - maybe it's not exciting, but it's good for you. Had Pereira not also sprinkled on some humane touches - found in tones of voice and body language - we might have turned against Marilla, but instead she finds her way into our hearts.
So much of any Anne of Green Gables production hinges on the believability of youthful love interest Gilbert Blythe. Actor Adam Harasimiuk is young but already a veteran of local stage and screen, and he deftly played an understated version of Blythe, allowing the audience to hold this character's hand as he slowly grew in Anne's esteem. Harasimiuk might be destined for Hamlet, one day, and a key sign of ability to play big is the ability to play small. Blythe was just the right size.
But Anne is about Anne, and when I watched that was all in the hands of Kate McGowan (the role alternates nightly between McGowan and Makenna Thiffault). She is a teenaged force of nature in the performing arts. Her dancing skills have often been displayed in past productions but this time she reveals her true array of skills as a sensitive actor and compelling singer. Her voice rings like the Acadian Bells and her character control beams like the North Rustico harbour light. As Anne grows and matures to the cusp of graduation in the story, it is impossible to miss the parallel with McGowan as she appears poised to leap into her own future on the stage.
I regret not also getting to see Thiffault's version of Anne, since the young performer has a growing triple-threat reputation of her own. McGowan is not to be missed, so the only true antidote to this problem is watching Anne of Green Gables: The Musical twice.
The play is on at the Prince George Playhouse until July 29.
Contact Central Interior Tickets for showtimes and ticket information.
