By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com
Carmel Community Players (CCP) is taking you back to the late 19th century with the beloved classic Anne of Green Gables, staging from June 28 through July 7 at The Cat, 254 Veterans Way, Carmel.
Before we get into the reasons you should go see this show, just jump down to the end of this article for ticket information because opening night is already sold out and others are filling up fast.
Anne is a high-spirited, red-headed orphan girl who is sent to live with the Cuthberts at Green Gables. The Cuthberts say that was a mistake because they had asked for a boy. But before Marilla and her quiet brother Matthew can send her back to the orphanage, Anne’s winsome ways capture their hearts, and her winning personality and funny antics captivate all who come to know her.
Luciana Lindner as Marilla Cuthbert and Lincoln “Sam” Everitt as Matthew Cuthbert. (Photo by Rob Slaven / IndyGhostLight.com)
The Reporter spoke to CCP Board Member and Director Amber K. Roth about what it has taken to bring this story to stage.
Right up front, finding costumes for a play set over 120 years ago presented a challenge.
“The term that we have decided to go with kind of to encapsulate all of this is like Easter Sunday pastels,” Right said. “We the pastel look and the whimsical look of the early 1900s. We have had the pleasure really of working alongside various other community theaters throughout central Indiana who have been very generous in letting us borrow some of their items and kind of matching what they have to what we have to tell this beautiful story.”
Carolyn Noneman as Anne Shirley (Photo by Rob Slaven / IndyGhostLight.com)
This show is billed as a CCP Rising Stars Production, meaning the cast is made up entirely of young actors.
“We have a lovely cast,” Roth said. “There are 19 individuals in this that are what I like to call ‘the next generation of performers.’ Our youngest is 10 years old. She is the character Minnie Mae, and she does not look her age by any stretch of the imagination. She definitely fits the bill of stage age of six years old, but she is 10. She’s our youngest and our oldest is 18 years old.”
Given that the show had fewer than 20 roles available and over 40 kids auditioned, Roth and her team had some difficult choices to make in this production.
“This was actually one of the one of the best turnouts that CCP has had in a very, very long time,” Roth said. “This has definitely been a wonderful experience to say the least. Talent wise, for these kids, I would say that they can hold their own in a professional audition. It was definitely one of those situations where we wish that we could have casted everybody. It was definitely a pleasure being able to have all these kids come out and share their talents with us.”
Because this show is staging at The Cat, CCP has had to audition elsewhere and has reached all the way back to ancient Greece for a few tricks to give a small stage a more robust set than one might expect.
“We love to be able to have the opportunity for our audience to use their imagination,” Roth told The Reporter. “We’ll be using what are called periaktoi. It’s a wonderful tool that the Greeks made. It is a triangle essentially on wheels. And whenever you turn it to a different side of the triangle, that gives you a whole new set. We can do ultimately three different major scene set points with those periaktoi. We have those three there, along with the three slats in the back.”
Because of the set design and the way she is incorporating parts of the actual text of the original novel into the set, Roth likens it to the stage version of a pop-up book.
“We’ve taken excerpts from the actual text – the book by L. M. Montgomery – and been able to encapsulate that around Anne and her friends, so they are able to be surrounded by their own story. During intermission, the audience can go up to the edge of the stage and read those excerpts.”
Thanks to partnerships with both Conner Prairie and Indy Ghost Light photography, there are some wonderful cast photos that almost take you back to Anne’s time.
Tickets for Anne of Green Gables are $10 for ages 14 and under, and $18 for ages 15 and older. You can get your tickets online at CarmelPlayers.org or by calling (317) 815-9387.
Photos by Rob Slaven / IndyGhostLight.com