Anne of Green Gables - Arts Education

1 Study Guide prepared by Catherine Bush Barter Playwright-in-Residence anne of Green Gables By Catherine Bush Adapted from the book by Lucy Maud Montgomery *Especially for Grades 3 and up By the Barter Players, Barter Theatre, Fall 2014 On tour January thru March 2015 (NOTE: standards listed below are for reading anne of Green Gables , seeing a performance of the play and completing the study guide.) Virginia SOLs English , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Theatre Arts , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Tennessee Common Core State Standards English/Language Arts - Reading Literacy: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , English Language Arts Writing: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Theatre , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Theatre 6-8: , , , Theatre 9-12: , , , , North Carolina Common Core State Standards English Language Arts Reading Literacy.

2 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , English Language Arts Writing: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , North Carolina Essential Standards Theatre Arts , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Setting Various locations in the town of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island, Canada, 1890 s Characters anne Shirley a redheaded orphan with a vivid imagination Marilla Cuthbert the spinster who adopts anne Matthew Cuthbert Marilla s brother quiet and shy Rachel Lynde the Cuthbert s nosy neighbor Mrs. Blewett a termagant who wants to adopt anne Diana Barry anne s bosom friend Gilbert Blythe a classmate of anne s Mr.

3 Phillips the Avonlea schoolmaster Stationmaster runs the Avonlea railroad depot Doctor country physician Note: Cast Size and Doubling of Actors This production of anne of Green Gables features only six actors, with some actors playing more than one role. Doubling of actors requires distinction between characters. In this production, characters will be distinguished by costume, voice and other physical character traits. Synopsis As soon as anne Shirley arrived in Avonlea and saw the snug, white farmhouse called Green Gables , she knew she wanted to stay but would the Cuthberts want to keep her? Or would they send her back to the orphanage? Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert were hoping to adopt a boy, not a skinny girl with red hair (which she hates!)

4 And a temper to match a temper that gets her into trouble time and again, first with the gossipy neighbor Rachel Lynde, and then again at school, when anne breaks a slate over Gilbert Blythe s head for calling her Carrots. If only anne could convince Matthew and Marilla to let her stay, she would try very hard not to keep rushing headlong into scrapes or blurting out the very first thing that came to mind. Shy Matthew finds himself charmed by this otherworldly imp, but his sister Marilla isn t quite sure. anne is not like anybody else; she was special a girl with an enormous imagination. And this orphan girl dreamed of the day when she could call herself anne of Green Gables . Biography of the Author Lucy Maud Montgomery was born on November 30, 1874 in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

5 Although few women of that time received a higher Education , Lucy attended Prince of Wales College in Charlottetown, PEI, and then Dalhousie University in Halifax. At seventeen she went to Nova Scotia to work for a newspaper, the Halifax Chronicle, and wrote for its evening edition, the Echo. But Lucy came back to rural Prince Edward Island to teach, and lived with her grandmother at Cavendish. It is this experience, along with the lives of her farmer and fisherfolk neighbors, that came alive when she wrote her anne books, beginning with anne of Green Gables in 1908. First published as a serial for a Sunday school paper, anne of Green Gables quickly became a favorite of readers throughout the world. In 1911, Lucy married Ewen MacDonald and afterwards they moved to Ontario, where he became the minister of a Presbyterian church.

6 She bore three sons but continued to write, including seven more novel featuring anne Shirley and her family. She also wrote Emily of New Moon in 1923 followed by two sequels, and Pat of Silver Bush in 1933 and its sequel. In 1935, her husband retired and they moved to Toronto. In 1942, Montgomery dies and was buried in the Cavendish cemetery on Prince Edward Island. Biography of the Playwright Catherine Bush lives in Abingdon, Virginia where she is Barter Theatre s Playwright-in-Residence. Her produced plays include: The Other Side of the Mountain, The Quiltmaker, Comin Up A Storm, I ll Never Be Hungry Again (book and lyrics), Wooden Snowflakes, Tradin Paint, The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig, Where Trouble Sleeps, The Road to Appomattox, The Frankenstein Summer, Walking Across Egypt, A Jarful of Fireflies , and unhINGEd.

7 Another play, Just a Kiss (produced at New Theatre) was a finalist for the 2007 American Theatre Critics Association s Steinberg Award. Her plays for young audiences include Cry Wolf!, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Frosty, The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth, My Imaginary Pirate, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Call of the Wild, The Princess and the Pea, Rudolph, The Red Badge of Courage, Aesop s Fables, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mother Goose: The Musical and Twas the Night Before Christmas. A Brief History Barter Theatre was founded during the Great Depression by Robert Porterfield, an enterprising young actor. He and his fellow actors found themselves out of work and hungry in New York City.

8 Porterfield contrasted that to the abundance of food, but lack of live theatre, around his home region in Southwest Virginia. He returned to Washington County with an extraordinary proposition: bartering produce from the farms and gardens of the area to gain admission to see a play. Barter Theatre opened its doors on June 10, 1933 proclaiming, With vegetables you cannot sell, you can buy a good laugh. The price of admission was 40 cents or the equivalent in produce, the concept of trading ham for Hamlet caught on quickly. At the end of the first season, the Barter Company cleared $ in cash, two barrels of jelly and enjoyed a collective weight gain of over 300 pounds. Playwrights including Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder accepted Virginia ham as payment for royalties.

9 An exception was George Bernard Shaw, a vegetarian, who bartered the rights to his plays for spinach. Today, Barter Theatre has a reputation as a theatre where many actors performed before going on to achieve fame and fortune. The most recognized of these alumni include Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, Gary Collins, Larry Linville and Frances Fisher. The list also included James Burrows, creator of Cheers, Barry Corbin, and the late Jim Varney Robert Porterfield passed away in 1971. His successor, Rex Partington, had been at Barter in the 1950s as an actor and in the 1970s as stage manager. Rex returned as chief administrator from 1972 until his retirement in 1992. In March 2006, he passed away.

10 Richard Rose was named the producing artistic director in October 1992. In that time, attendance has grown from 42,000 annual patrons to more than 163,000 annual patrons. Significant capital improvements have also been made. Including maintenance to both theatres, and in 2006, the addition of The Barter Caf at Stage II and dramatic improvements to Porterfield Square. Barter represents three distinct venues of live theatre: Barter Theatre Main Stage, Barter Theatre Stage II and The Barter Players. Barter Theatre, with over 500 seats, features traditional theatre in a luxurious setting. Barter Stage II, across the street from Barter Main Stage and beyond Porterfield Square, offers seating for 167 around a thrust stage in an intimate setting and is perfect for more adventurous productions.