Anne of Green Gables
Luna Pearl Woolf, composer
Royce Vavrek, librettist
Steven Osgood, conductor
Allison Voth, pianist & musical preparation
Anne of Green Gables was commissioned by Against the Grain Theatre (Toronto, ON).
Synopsis: Anne, an 11-year-old orphan, has come to Avonlea, a rural town on Prince Edward Island, where she believes she is to be adopted by sister and brother Marilla and Matthew of Green Gables. Matthew drives her from the train station in his carriage, and the introductory views of the roads that lead her to Avonlea fire up Anne’s imagination in the most remarkable way. As an ensemble of trees welcomes her, Anne is filled with joy.
Cast
Marilla: Faith Adams
Anne: Lindsey Weissman
Matthew: Gabriel Chona Rueda
Ensemble of Trees
Kelsey Watts
Sydney Dardis
Audrianna Hughes
Ryan Michki
Christopher Walters
Jared Peterson
A Prayer for Owen Meany
Luna Pearl Woolf, composer
Steven Osgood, conductor
Allison Voth, pianist
Content Warning: A Prayer for Owen Meany contains strong language, references to violence, sexualized bullying, and mature themes. Not recommended for children 13 and under.
A Prayer for Owen Meany was co-commissioned by Pacific Opera Victoria and Opera Magnolia.
Cast
Owen: Kelsey Watts
Tabitha: Sydney Dardis
Young Hester: Audrianna Hughes
Old Hester: Sarah Dyer-Jones
Reverend Merrill: Ryan Michki
John: Christopher Walters
Coach & Harriet: Jared Peterson
Ensemble
Sarah Rachel Bacani
Faith Adams
Lindsey Weissman
Synopsis:
Act I, Scene 1 – The Angel
John, age 45, is plagued by the memory of his childhood friend, Owen Meany: the quarryman’s boy, the lover, the seer, the hero, the martyr, and the reason for John’s mother’s death. In John’s memory, a group of children lift Owen high in the air.
John’s cousin Hester, now a grunge rock star, delivers one of her hits, as memory reveals the childhood sexual bullying that inspired the song. Owen’s sudden appearance changes the course of her young life.
Slipping fully into the earlier timeline, John’s mother, Tabitha, returns from her weekly trip to Boston with news that she has met Dan, a new love-interest. Grandmother Harriet, the family matriarch, and her guest, Reverend Merrill, are surprised by Tabby’s certainty about her feelings. She gently explains to young Johnny that the man she has met is not his father. Johnny invites Owen to sleep over.
Act II, Scene 8 – The Dream
Young Hester and Owen, now around 20 years old, are in love but have been fighting. She tells John that, having been expelled for writing anti-war political articles, Owen has now joined the army. Owen explains that he must be in the war, because God has a special plan for him. He has a recurring dream in which he is in uniform, saving the lives of a group of children in the jungle. He believes he must enlist in order to fulfill God’s plan.
Hester is furious at Owen’s obstinance and his intention to abandon her to be the “instrument of God.” Overcome with rage, she attacks him, beating him until John is able to pull her off. She tells Owen she would have his babies, but she refuses to go to his funeral.
After Hester leaves, Owen admits that John is in the dream at the time of the explosion, but assures him that he and the children all survive. As Owen leaves for basic training, he gives John the giant armadillo’s claws, but John would rather have the baseball. Owen tells him he has never had it. Maybe John’s father has the ball?
Libretti for both programs are available below for those who would like to read along.
Libretto:
Twilight at Green Gables
ANNE is in the carriage with MATTHEW
CUTHBERT, who is driving. The introductory
views of the roads that lead her to Avonlea fire
up her imagination in the most remarkable way.
Twilight / The Gable Window
TREES
Welcome, welcome
ANNE
Oh! The trees are so lovely!
I can close my eyes
And know their names
By the way the blossoms whisper.
TREES
Welcome Anne,
To this world of light.
ANNE
Look at them.
Oh, look at them, Matthew…
How they reach up to the moon,
As if they want to be kissed by it!
TREES
Welcome to this world of splendor,
This world of song.
ANNE
The trees are so lovely!
I am so lucky to be surrounded
By white birch and wild cherry.
TREES
Welcome Anne,
To this world of bloomy meadows,
And idle breezes over solemn hills,
Where purple shadows about them lie.
ANNE
It wouldn’t be the same without them,
Without the trees?
Would it, Matthew?
Wouldn’t be the same.
Look at it.
Oh, look at it,
A pond, Matthew!
As long and winding as a river.
A glory of shifting hues…
With spiritual shadings of crocus and rose
And ethereal green.
Oh, I shall call it…
The Lake of Shining Waters!
And those trees, lovely, too!
Quivering groves of fir and maple.
And look, oh, look!
A wild plum leans out, over the lake
Like a white-clad girl,
Tiptoeing to her own reflection.
Oh, Matthew.
There is so much scope for imagination!
Is this really my new home?
TREES
Welcome home, Anne
To a world of bloomy meadows,
And idle breezes over solemn hills,
Where purple shadows about them lay.
(ANNE and MATTHEW arrive at the gate to the house of Green
Gables.)
Welcome home Anne,
Welcome home.
ANNE
Is this Green Gables!
Are we home?
Oh, Matthew.
Is this really my new home?
(The magic and romance of ANNE’s first introduction to the beauty of
Green Gables is broken by the harsh interjection of MARILLA
CUTHBERT, sister of MATTHEW.)
MARILLA
Where’s the boy?
MATTHEW
There was no boy.
MARILLA
There must have been a boy.
MATTHEW
There was only her.
MARILLA
We sent for a boy.
MATTHEW
There was no boy.
MARILLA
This is a terrible mistake.
ANNE
I might have known this was too beautiful to last.
(she begins to cry)
Oh,
It’s true…
Oh, oh oh,
I am not a boy.
MARILLA
Don’t cry.
We won't turn you out tonight.
(beat)
What is your name?
ANNE
(wiping away her runny nose and tear-filled eyes)
Please, would you call me Cordelia.
MATTHEW
That’s not her name.
(chuckling)
Cordelia!
ANNE
No, not exactly.
But I would love to be called Cordelia.
That’s a name I’d never be ashamed of.
MARILLA
Fiddlesticks. You’ve no reason to be ashamed of your name.
What is it?
(beat)
Out with it!
ANNE
Anne…
MARILLA
A perfectly sensible name.
ANNE
…with an E.
MATTHEW
(chuckling)
Anne, with an E!
MARILLA
Makes no difference.
No one cares how it’s spelled.
ANNE
I do.
A-N-N is wretched..
A-N-N-E is so refined.
MARILLA
I see.
You will call me Marilla.
(beat)
Tonight you’ll sleep in the East Gable Room.
We’ll investigate this mistake in the morning.
(MARILLA takes ANNE upstairs to the attic room where she’ll spend
the night. There is a beautiful gable window, perfectly framing a vast
meadow and orchard. ANNE runs to the window, looking out over
what she fleetingly dreamed of being her little kingdom. The trees
comfort her.)
TREES
Welcome, Anne…
Welcome, Anne…
Stay and pass your hours of dreaming,
Stay and kneel tonight to pray;
And, when the rose-lit dawn is streaming
Across the day,
Bend from it and catch the glory
Of all those radiant silver skies!
Welcome, welcome…
ANNE
It wouldn’t be the same without them,
It wouldn’t be the same
Without the trees!
TREES
Welcome, Anne!
Scene 1 – The Angel
1.1 – (John, Coach, Ensemble)
[Downstage/apron, JOHN (older, a little disheveled) talks as though on a tangent from
the literature lesson he is supposed to be giving.]
JOHN (older)
I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice
not his voice, or his size,
or that swing of his bat,
– the instrument of my mother's death –
No, I am doomed to remember the boy with the wrecked voice
COACH (off stage)
No, Johnny! No!
JOHN
He is the reason I believe in God.
COACH
You don't want to see her, Johnny.
JOHN
But mine is a church-rummage faith–
It needs patching up
Every weekend it needs patching up.
But I believe!
In a church-rummage way.
What faith I have
I owe to Owen,
Owen Meany.
The granite mouse
The quarryman’s boy
The lover
The seer
The hero
The martyr
It is Owen who made me a believer.
And it is Owen who has made me…
What I am.
[Quoting Owen:]
". . . whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die."
I never had a father,
And Owen was mostly on his own.
So my wonderful mother, and later, Dan,
And grandmother, too, of course,
Meant ‘family’ to both of us.
Owen was so small
So small, so tiny
He weighed nothing at all!
A granite mouse
A rock-dust baby
A little gray angel
A miracle
A friend.
My best friend.
It was just an illusion that he weighed "nothing at all."
There were forces beyond our play
There were forces we didn't have the faith to feel,
And they were the forces lifting Owen up
Lifting him out of our hands.
We were only children!
What did we truly know?
There's a prayer that I say for him:
“Into paradise may the angels lead you”
I am always saying prayers
for Owen Meany.
O God–please give him back! I shall keep asking You.
1.2 – (Old Hester, Ensemble (Young Hester, John, Owen))
[Opposite, OLD HESTER is an aging, grungy hard-rocker. As she sings, the setting
behind is revealed: 80 Front street: A large living room with many antique seats, most of
which are not meant for sitting on. A playroom is seen above, with a dressmaker’s
dummy dressed exactly as Tabitha will be dressed, a sewing machine, and a skylight or
high window at the top of the stairs.]
OLD HESTER
Running on the stairs
Running on the stairs
Chasing nightmares
Pushing in the dark
Pushing in the dark
With no hands
Everything already said
Everything already set
Never doubt, never question
Everything already set in motion
Set in motion
[The COUSINS (several large boys from the ENSEMBLE) and YOUNG HESTER arrive
shedding outdoor clothes. They chase JOHN (now aged 10-12) around the house and
up the stairs to the playroom, roughhousing mercilessly.]
ENSEMBLE
Last one loses
Loser has to kiss her
Loser has to kiss cousin Hester!
[The cousins force YOUNG HESTER down on the bed and force JOHN on top of her.]
OLD HESTER
You run
You chase
You hate
You lust
You push
You pinch
You lie
ENSEMBLE
Kiss her!
Kiss her!
Kiss cousin Hester,
Loser has to kiss Hester!
Hester the molester!
Hester the molester!
Hester the molester!
Loser has to kiss cousin Hester!
OLD HESTER
And you –
You’ve got it all figured out
You’re an instrument
A tool, an arm, a fucking utility knife
That’s it, that’s all, a fucking utility knife
You’re an instrument,
Just an instrument,
An instrument of…
[After a wild struggle, YOUNG HESTER gets herself out from under JOHN just as
OWEN is revealed in a shaft of light, like a descending angel.]
YOUNG HESTER
Aaa-eee!
[Everyone stops, mouths agape. The COUSINS give their complete attention to OWEN.
They begin a quiet indoor game. Music from a children’s song is heard.] (Reference 1)
1.3 – (Tabby, Harriet, Merrill, John, Dan (Owen))
[In the living room below, HARRIET hosts regular guest Reverend MERRILL.
TABITHA(TABBY) has just arrived from the train.]
TABBY
Hello mother!
I’m just in from the train.
HARRIET
Tabitha, my dear, the cousins are waging war again, upstairs.
TABBY
That’s nice.
HARRIET
And Johnny’s little friend is here.
TABBY
How lovely!
Hello Reverend.
MERRILL
Hello T-Tabby
S-so glad to…
TABBY
Mother, mother!
I've met a man on the train.
HARRIET
Another man?
Are you saying…?
[Indicating pregnancy and JOHN]
MERRILL [To HARRIET]
What’s that Mrs. Wheelwright?
TABBY
Johnny! Owen!
I just met him today, on today's train.
On the good ole Boston and Maine.
MERRILL
On the good ole b-Boston and Maine.
[JOHN and OWEN come down to greet Tabby.]
TABBY
Hello Johnny, my gorgeous boy!
My precious little fling.
Hello dear Owen!
I've just come from the train!
JOHN (young)
The Boston and Maine?
TABBY
Yes, the good ole Boston and Maine.
Johnny, do you want little Owen to sleep over?
HARRIET
Tabitha.
JOHN
Can he? Can he?
HARRIET
So, you've met a man on the Boston and Maine?
TABBY
Yes, I met him today, on today's train!
MERRILL
And you l-like him?
TABBY
Yes! I like him
And I want you all to meet him.
HARRIET
Already?
MERRILL
Are you s-sure, Tabby?
TABBY
Well, yes,
You know,
You know such things.
HARRIET
You know such things.
Have you known such things before? Before this time, Tabitha?
TABBY
Well, this is the first time,
My first time, really,
That's why I know.
[HARRIET instinctively looks at JOHN, MERRILL looks at TABBY. JOHN wonders if
she’s referring to his father after all. TABBY takes JOHN aside.]
TABBY
You know, Johnny,
You are my one and only.
You and me,
And Grandmother, too, of course!
The man I met today is a different man.
He’s not the one who gave me you.
My precious little fling!
I met him today, on the Boston and Maine.
And I like him.
That's all: I like him, and I think you'll like him, too.
JOHN
Okay.
8.2 – (Young Hester, John, Owen)
[A bench in the town park. OWEN and YOUNG HESTER are curled together. They have been clinging to each other and passionately arguing. A packed duffel bag, the armadillo’s claws and Owen’s diary are nearby. Hester’s guitar is leaning on the armadillo.]
YOUNG HESTER [Still angry, but still in his arms.]
You’re such a little shit. I hate you.
OWEN
I know.
YOUNG HESTER
You have to tell John, too.
OWEN
I know.
[JOHN enters.]
JOHN (younger)
Tell John? Tell John what?
OWEN
John…
YOUNG HESTER
They expelled him, now he’s gone and joined the army.
JOHN
He what? You what?
OWEN
Don’t worry about it.
JOHN
Do you even qualify?
OWEN
I can reach five feet.
Standing on my tiptoes.
Tall enough for combat.
JOHN
Combat?
Combat? [to Hester]
OWEN
If I go to war,
I want to be in the war.
Not at a desk.
YOUNG HESTER
Fuck you, Owen!
All your talk of justice…
JOHN
Didn’t you call the war all bullshit?
YOUNG HESTER
Now you want to be a part of it?
OWEN
No, not “want to”.
But if I go to war,
I need to be in the war.
JOHN
So you want to be a hero?
[YOUNG HESTER breaks away and starts noodling angrily on her guitar.]
OWEN
You don’t understand.
JOHN
Enlighten me.
OWEN
I don't want. I know.
I don’t want to go. I know that I go.
JOHN
To war.
YOUNG HESTER
Ask him how he “knows.”
Tell him how you know it, asshole!
JOHN
How do you know it, Owen.
OWEN
The way you know the goalie
Is still there in the dark
The way you know the deep black quarry lake
Has got to have a bottom.
That’s how I know my destiny, my fate
That’s how I know what G-d has planned for me.
JOHN
G-d wants you in the war?
Did Reverend Merrill tell you that?
YOUNG HESTER
Not again Owen.
I’m not listening.
You asshole!
OWEN
He says it’s just a dream.
JOHN
The dream?
YOUNG HESTER [Putting down the guitar.]
It's sick
All sick.
Just death and death and death again.
OWEN
Hester’s so sensitive.
YOUNG HESTER
What a load of shit!
JOHN
But it’s only a dream!
OWEN
Would I go up for combat
If it were only a dream?
In the dream I save the children
So many children in the dream.
Children, but in uniform
And so am I, in uniform.
Surrounded by a thick green jungle,
Sweating in the heat,
Burning sulfur in the air.
This is what I know.
Not everything
But it’s enough.
In the dream I save the children,
Children, but in uniform
And so am I –
There is a reason for my size
There is a reason for my voice
And I must be in the war.
JOHN
But it’s a dream! You can’t believe this!
OWEN
I have faith. I do believe.
8.3 – (Young Hester, Owen, John)
YOUNG HESTER
He does believe!
Exactly that.
This is G-d’s plan
The destiny of Owen Meany.
The instrument of G-d.
[YOUNG HESTER physically attacks OWEN.]
What a load of absolute
Mother fucking
Shit
You want to be a hero
Stay here and be with me!
Is this too dangerous for you? You’d rather go to war?
[She beats him. JOHN attempts to intervene.]
You absolute
Mother fucking
Load of shit
You asshole
You’ve got it all figured out
G-d’s instrument.
What kind of instrument?
A tool, and arm, a fucking utility knife?
[JOHN finally pulls YOUNG HESTER off of OWEN and lays on top of her while she sobs.]
Get off.
Get off!
Owen, I would marry you
I would even give you babies
I would do anything at all for you.
Anything at all.
But I will not go to your fucking funeral.
[YOUNG HESTER exits. JOHN tends to OWEN’s wounds.]
JOHN
Why are you doing this?
OWEN
Do not be afraid.
It’s easier this way.
JOHN
You’re exasperating!
OWEN
You’re in my dream, John.
Every time. I don’t know how.
I wrote it all down here.
[OWEN shows JOHN the diary, but doesn’t let him read it.]
You’re there after the explosion
Dust and shrapnel raining down,
White smoke in your hair.
But you’re ok.
You and the children. Everyone survives.
I hear them crying
See their faces.
They are frightened
Frightened and alive.
And there is blood.
A lot of blood.
I want to sweep away the stain
But it’s as if my arms are gone!
And then I float –
Above the thick green jungle
Above the crying children
In the silence that comes after…
But you’re ok.
You and the children.
Everyone survives.
I love you John.
I love you.
Nothing bad will happen.
Trust me.
[OWEN gets the armadillo claws and gives them ceremoniously to JOHN, who is bewildered, annoyed. He waits for OWEN to give him something else.]
Oh John,
I don't have it.
I swear, I never did.
Maybe your father has the ball.
If he won’t tell you, G-d will do it.
G-d will tell you who your father is.
[OWEN shoulders the duffel bag, picks up his diary and exits.]
General & Artistic Director: Steven Osgood
Music Administrator: Carol Rausch
Music Staff: Miriam Charney, Rick Hoffenberg, Nathaniel LaNasa, and Allison Voth
Director of Production: Michael Baumgarten
Production Stage Manager: Valerie Wheeler
Assistant Stage Managers: Hanna Atkinson and Alexandria Griner
Technical Director: JP Woodey
Costume Shop Supervisor: Cristine Patrick
Costume Shop Crew: Claire Gibbons and Natalie Juran
Wig Supervisor: Martha Ruskai
Manager: Helen Hassinger
Company Scheduler: Rick Hoffenberg
Management Associate: Kara Post
Marketing Associate: Nick Kemp
Opera Guild Intern: Mia O’Malley
Composer Intern: Jeremiah Trowbridge
2026 Chautauqua Opera Guild
Archangel ($2500+)
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Angel ($1000+)
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