Anne of Green Gables: Through the Eyes of a Cast Member (By Madeleine Rakos

From September to December, the journey through Anne of Green Gables was a magical, exciting, and challenging experience. With an entirely new set of directors and a late start to the school year, Palmerton Drama Club was certainly under unprecedented times.

Starring Paige Cronk (as Anne Shirley), Freyja Marks (as Marilla Cuthbert), Zane Himmelwright (as Matthew Cuthbert), Jalin Burns (as Diana Barry), Wyatt Rinker (as Gilbert Blythe), and myself (as Rachel Lynde), Anne of Green Gables tells the story of a red-haired orphan named Anne Shirley. It shows her journey to Green Gables, her relationships with her new guardians, Marilla and Matthew, her newfound friendship with Diana Barry, her budding interest in Gilbert Blythe, and the sticky situations she finds herself in. 

As members of this show, we were tasked with a lot of responsibility. While some challenges come with all shows, a few were unique to our production of Anne of Green Gables. The first was getting accustomed to our new set of directors. While we love our new directors just as much as their predecessors, we needed to adjust to their differing ways of doing things. Rehearsal schedules were changed. New acting warm-ups were introduced. Acting workshops were added. It took some patience and understanding from both the directors and the cast members to get into the flow of how things would operate.

Another challenge that came with this specific show was how heavily it relied on our acting abilities and stage chemistry. While past shows have had crazy settings or highly action-packed plots, AGG took place on a farm in Canada with a plot that was more heartfelt than exhilarating. These are not negative traits, however, they require a skilled set of actors and actresses to bring the life and keep the audience hooked. Additionally, the language was more eloquent due to the 1880s time period, so it took some extra studying to be able to memorize the lines and recite them with the appropriate inflection and tone.

Despite its challenges, the show brought special memories, new friendships, bonds with our new directors, and ticket sales that beat out many of the previous Palmerton Drama Club plays. I think I can speak for the cast as a whole when I say that we would not trade the experiences we had in this show, with these castmates and directors, for anything else in the world.