Day 141 Anne of Green Gables Children Musical Play in Harwich MA
The Harwich Junior theater will be performing Anne of Green Gables a musical based on the book of the same name. This is a great musical to bring the kids to while you are on Cape Cod summer vacation!
Anne, a young orphan from Bolingbroke, Nova Scotia, is sent to Prince Edward Island after a childhood spent in strangers’ homes and orphanages. Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert, siblings in their fifties and sixties, had decided to adopt a boy from the orphanage to help Matthew run their farm. They live at Green Gables, their Avonlea farmhouse on Prince Edward Island. Through a misunderstanding, the orphanage sends Anne Shirley.
Anne is described as bright and quick, eager to please, talkative, and extremely imaginative. She has a pale face with freckles, and usually braids her red hair. When asked her name, Anne tells Marilla to call her Cordelia, which Marilla refuses; Anne insists that if she is to be called Anne, it must be spelled with an e, as that spelling is “so much more distinguished.” Marilla at first says the girl must return to the orphanage, but after a few days, she decides to let her stay – she pities her and is curious about the girl.
As a child of imagination, Anne takes much joy in life, and adapts quickly, thriving in the close-knit farming village. Her talkativeness initially drives the prim, duty-driven Marilla to distraction, although shy Matthew falls for her immediately. Anne says that they are ‘kindred spirits’.
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At sixteen, Anne goes to Queen’s Academy to earn a teaching license, along with Gilbert, Ruby, Josie, Jane and several other students. She obtains her license in one year instead of the usual two, and wins the Avery Scholarship for the top student in English, which would allow her to pursue a B.A. at Redmond College on the mainland in Nova Scotia.
Near the end of the play , Matthew dies of a heart attack after learning that all of his and Marilla’s money has been lost in a bank failure. Out of devotion to Marilla and Green Gables, Anne gives up the Avery Scholarship to stay at home and help Marilla, whose eyesight is diminishing. She plans to teach at the Carmody school, the nearest school available, and return to Green Gables on weekends. In an act of friendship, Gilbert Blythe gives up his teaching position at the Avonlea School to work at White Sands School instead. Anne can teach in Avonlea and stay at Green Gables all through the week. After this kind act, Anne and Gilbert’s friendship is cemented, and Anne looks forward to the next “bend in the road.
Performance are being held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings at 7 p.m.; Friday and Sunday matinees at 4 p.m. (through Aug. 5).
Tickets are $22 for adults , $15 under 21.
Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St., West Harwich. 508-432-2002. www.hjtcapecod.org
