BY LILY CHESBRO
Wadsworth High School will be presenting the play “Anne of Green Gables” on October 28 and 29 at 7pm and October 30 at 1pm at the Wadsworth High School Performing Arts Center.
The show “Anne of Green Gables” was written by Lucy Maud Montgomery in 1908. Since then, the storyline has been developed into both a musical and a play. WHS is performing the play of this story, based on a small town called Green Gables in Canada.
The part of Anne in WHS’s production of this show is played by Emily Reese, a Wadsworth senior. This is Reese’s first lead role of the nine shows total that she has performed in.
“I guess when you’re the lead, you kind of have this extra responsibility of kind of also taking charge of the rest of the cast, “said Reese. “There’s a lot more lines to memorize…and a lot more involved.”
There is a lot that goes into the final show and one of the two directors, Brianne Pernod, explains the reason why “Anne of Green Gables” was chosen.
“We were looking for something that would appeal to a broader audience, we have in the past done the family show as more of a children’s production, and so this year we wanted to make it more of a family show, something that high school kids would want to come see,” Pernod said.
She also describes that for this year’s tryouts, students were asked to read a children’s book for their audition, to see how they read it with dynamics and fluency.
The set contributes to making the show look and feel as realistic as possible. “So the show is about an hour in each act and most of the pieces are on stage the whole time”, explains Pernod.
Allowing the show to flow makes for easier transitions, leading to the inspiration of the set design to waste the least amount of time possible with changing sets.
“I know the importance that the drama program has in a student’s life. How it gives them self confidence and how it helps them develop independence as well as understanding the importance of teamwork”, said Pernod.
Being in drama allows kids to learn the responsibilities as well as being themselves and their own individual.
“Anne of Green Gables” will be showing October 28 and 29 at 7pm and October 30 at 1pm. Tickets can be bought at the show for $8 for adults and $5 for student in grades K-6.
