PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles High School’s stage adaptation of “Anne of Green Gables” will be performed during its final weekend, beginning tonight.
The play will be performed at 7 tonight and Saturday night, and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Performing Arts Center at 304 E. Park Ave.
Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.
The stage adaptation of the novel and its sequels written by L.M. Montgomery was written and is directed by Patric McInnis, PAHS theatre technology and video production teacher.
Students perform in the show and make up the crew.
The story, set in the late 19th century, recounts the adventures of Anne Shirley, a 13-year-old orphan girl, who is mistakenly sent to two middle-aged siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who had originally intended to adopt a boy to help them on their farm in the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, Canada.
Anne is fanciful, imaginative, eager to please and dramatic. However, she is defensive about her appearance, despising her red hair and pale, thin frame. She is outspoken, especially when it comes to describing her fantasies and dreams. Over the next six years, her imagination and talkativeness change Green Gables and the townsfolk of Avonlea.
McInnis said he feels a deep connection to the tale, having descended from those who immigrated to Prince Edward Island from Scotland in 1806 and lived in the area right around where the tale takes place.
“This felt like a natural fit to be my stage directorial debut, having had success as the technical director for the last several main stage productions in this theater,” he said.
Existing adaptions were too long for a stage production, he said.
“My only solution was to start from scratch and write the adaptation myself,” he said.
“Drawing heavily on the exact phrasing and details vividly captured in the source material, I’ve tried to preserve the purity of the story while building toward tangible moments of love and catharsis,” McInnis said.
Technically, the production “blossomed into one of the most ambitious I have ever overseen — with on stage falling leaves, snow effects, breakable props, crazy costume changes and other spectacles.”
He thanked his assistant director, Jon Zuber, and his cast and crew.
Working as cast members or on the crew are Breanna Schafer-Murphy (11th grade), Samantha Weinert (12th grade), Delfonzo Martinez-Vasquez (10th grade), Carrie Lynn Childers (12th grade), Sophia Orth (11th grade), Riley Baermann (12th grade), Olivia Wray (10th grade), Alana Baker (ninth grade), Rayna Mathisen (ninth grade), Talia Anderson (12th grade), Madeline Montana (11th grade), Alex Hening (ninth grade), Hunter Cassinelli (10th grade), Vail Mead (10th grade), Rhianna Stockdale (12th grade), Daina Duffy (ninth grade), Kai Snook (ninth grade), Gabby Montana (ninth grade), Ana Campbell (ninth grade), Abby Sanford (ninth grade), Emily Childers (eighth grade at Stevens Middle School).
Also, Alexander Zuber (fifth grade a Jefferson Elementary School), Ruby Harris (12th grade), Dylan Hopkins (11th grade), Xoe Davis (10th grade), Adam Moore (12th grade), Isaac Calhoun (10th grade), Kira Commerton (10th grade), Lindsay Groff (ninth grade), Tyler Smith (11th grade), Johnathan Maestas (12th grade), Isabella Vollmer (10th grade), Lauren Hempel (12th grade), Lacey Baker (11th grade), Victoria Tyler (10th grade), Sarah Cameron (11th grade), Daya Woodyard (10th grade), Megan Boyd (ninth grade), Cassie Tomaino (ninth grade), Hannah Johnson (10th grade), Zephaniah Waldron (11th grade), Keanu Armitage (12th grade), Christian Eastman (10th grade), Ryon Miller (10th grade), Adrian Bell (12th grade), Daniel Roullo (10th grade), Allison Locke (12th grade), Sophia Groves (ninth grade) and Isabelle Sill (10th grade).
