St. Paul Catholic Secondary School has chosen to showcase the stage play Anne of Green Gables as its artistic piece for the 2017-2018 calendar school year.
Students have been working diligently for the past few months to get the production stage worthy and ready to share with an audience.
Rigorous 7 a.m. rehearsals, coupled with grueling after school rehearsals and three separate preview dress rehearsals for student audiences, proved a worthy labour of artistic love.
Students took to the stage on Wednesday, May 23 and brought the house down.
Some of the crowd favourites included Anne’s (played by Renee Richardson) anger eruption and bludgeoning of Gilbert Blythe (played by Devon Brown), Aunt Josephine’s (played by Alana Foshay) entrance from her boudoir and Diana Barry’s (played by Brooke Sargent) accidental indulgence and intake of Marilla’s (played by Sarah Dayton) medicinal cordial.
One of the most poignant scenes was the death of Matthew Cuthbert (played by Jacob Page).
The show also boasts a supportive ensemble cast group. Director Joe Garret (Drama and Religion teacher at SPSS) made this comment about the show, “These students have worked very hard. And they are very good. But what I like the most – aside from how good their work is – is that they continue to have fun. Because, really, that’s what it’s all about.”
Garrett made sure to recruit a solid team for important production items like set construction, costuming, make-up artistry and overall set design. He called in team help from Mark Pope, engineer at Trenton Glass, for important physicality elements tied to health and safety.
He also called in Jen Smith (high school Theatre Arts teacher/Dance Team coach) to ensure that while he was out front “calling the show” students had all the support they needed backstage.
Garrett also requested the artistic talents of Katrien Reed (Art Teacher at SPSS) for overseeing the artistic look of the stage set.
Anne of Green Gables fans and theatre buffs have one more chance to see this performance.
The show closes May 25 with a 7 p.m. show start.
Tickets are $10 at the door.
Doors open at 6:15 .pm. and seats are first come, first serve.
