Kat Sandler's fresh take on Anne of Green Gables is a standout at the Stratford Festival

Globe and Mail

02-06-2025

Title: Anne of Green Gables
Written and directed by: Kat Sandler
Performed by: Caroline Toal, Tim Campbell, Sarah Dodd, Maev Beaty, Helen Belay, Jordin Hall, Steven Hao, Josue Laboucane, Julie Lumsden, Jennifer Villaverde
Company: Stratford Festival
Venue: Avon Theatre
City: Stratford
Year: Until Oct. 25, 2025
Critic's Pick
For perhaps the first time in the Stratford Festival's history, the show you absolutely, categorically cannot miss this summer was not written by William Shakespeare. It's not a musical, either, or even a restoration comedy.
No – the play you'd be doing yourself an enormous disservice to skip is Anne of Green Gables, adapted and directed in a heartwarming, gut-wrenching, life-affirming production by Kat Sandler.
The show, which opened on Saturday afternoon at the end of an unusually strong week of openings for the Stratford Festival, wasn't on my list of most anticipated productions in 2025. To be honest, it was barely on the list of my most anticipated productions last week.
But Sandler's adaptation – some of her best writing in recent years – manages to have its cake and eat it, too, with a script that welcomes children and adults alike into its care from the very first line. It's both funny and achingly sad; straightforward yet nuanced and supple. Like Anne herself, Sandler's treatment of her is one of gripping contradictions that stretch the imagination and satisfy the soul.
For the Anne purists in attendance, don't worry: The first act is a faithful adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic tale about a gregarious young orphan living on Prince Edward Island in the 1890s. Anne is loquacious, adventurous and headstrong; she hates her red hair; she possesses a moral code comparable to that of a medieval knight.
Behind the scenes with the Stratford Festival's artisans
But Sandler's script is so much more than a one-to-one transcription of the classic stories. When she updates the story to a time that approximates now in the second act, the choice seems as obvious as a bottle of raspberry cordial on a hot summer day, the story as charming and timeless in modern dress as it is in bloomers and puffed sleeves.
As if refurbishing those fabled gables by hand, Sandler builds a careful frame around Anne's story that lets the audience know what's what. When we meet the first-rate ensemble cast, they're not residents of Avonlea, but members of a book club eager to discuss the story's finer plot points.
It's through this lens that Sandler is able to anticipate and reject the idea that Anne is untouchable – that she can't be reimagined by anyone with a big enough heart and a sharp enough pen. When actor Maev Beaty, novel in hand, chortles, 'That's not in the book!,' the laughs come easily: Superfans, it turns out, transcend centuries. (Beaty, as ever, is a treasure of the Stratford Festival stage, a joy to watch as she shape-shifts from concerned Anne stan to next-door neighbour Rachel Lynde.)
And what's an adaptation without a spitfire Anne leading the way? Caroline Toal is that and more, spunky and sprightly as Canada's favourite redhead, as convincing in the play's darker moments as in its more lighthearted tales of tweenage girlhood. Watching Anne become bosom friends with Diana (Julie Lumsden) feels like watching a home movie, their love for one another timeless and sweet. Diana is the one person in Avonlea for whom Anne never needs to shrink herself or her heart, and Lumsden ably captures the child's sense of good humour.
Two other important performances make this Anne sing: Sarah Dodd as Marilla, the woman who, after some prodding, accepts Anne into her home, and Tim Campbell as Matthew, Marilla's brother. Dodd and Campbell both possess the emotional dexterity these parts demand, the ability to convey complicated feelings of justice, pride and anxiety in a way that's accessible to the kids in the audience while also being deeply relatable to the guardians who bought their tickets. Campbell, in particular, is astounding – I'm certain his sensitive, iridescent portrayal of Anne's de facto father figure will stay with me for years.
There are no weak links in the rest of Sandler's cast: Steven Hao, Jordin Hall, Jennifer Villaverde, Josue Laboucane and Helen Belay are phenomenal chess pieces in Sandler's vision, relentlessly believable and sweet as they weave in and out of Anne's orbit.
One of the most poignant aspects of this production is Joanna Yu's set, complete with a peeling, emerald-green roof. It's easy to see how Anne falls in love with her home, the mismatched furniture pieces in her bedroom and kitchen that accompany her first experiences of family. Yu's costumes, too, conjure a universal childhood unconstrained by era – give or take a bad wig or two, the clothes themselves are nostalgic and sleek. (Fret not: The most important wig, with its iconic red braids, looks just fine on Toal's head.)
'I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers,' Anne memorably quips as the seasons turn cool in Avonlea. As summer descends upon Southwestern Ontario, I'm right there with her – but I'm equally glad I live in a world where there exists this gorgeous piece of theatre, the irrefutable standout of this year's Stratford Festival. Go see it.