Rosebud student performs final Anne of Green Gables story

Laureen F. Guenther
Times Contributor

 

Meghan Hanet, a graduating student at Rosebud School of the Arts, is producing Rilla of the Island, an Anne of Green Gables story, July 22 to 25. This is Hanet’s “final project,” the culmination of her four years of study.
Rilla of the Island is based on Rilla of Ingleside, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s final book about Anne of Green Gables. It tells the coming-of-age story of Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe’s daughter, Rilla.
Kelsey Krogman, with Hanet, adapted the story for the stage. Hanet plays the role of Rilla. Krogman is also in the cast, along with Jordan Cutbill, Leah T. Hearne and Jeany Van Meltebeke.
When the story opens, Rilla is “shallow and superficial and fun-loving and charming,” Hanet said. “She has no serious aim in life. She just wants to have fun.”
That changes when World War I begins. Rilla starts a Junior Red Cross and adopts an orphaned baby.
Hanet always loved the Anne of Green Gables stories, and when she was fourteen years old, her mom brought her a Rilla of Ingleside audio book.
“I listened to it all the time and I loved it because she was my age,” Hanet said. “Then about two summers ago, I was listening to it again, and I was talking to my parents on the phone and they were like, well, why don’t you do that for your final project?”
She resisted the idea, thinking it was easier to produce an already-written play. But the idea wouldn’t go away.
“If I ever want to play Rilla, and if I ever want to produce this show, this is the time to do it,” she decided, “when I have all the support in Rosebud (School of the Arts).”
As Rilla grows up in her story, Hanet has grown from watching Krogman adapt the book into a play, and from coordinating her team as the producer.
“I now know how to produce a show and I can go anywhere and produce a show,” she said. “[That’s] probably one of the most valuable things that Rosebud does, that other schools don’t necessarily do. We can go make our own work now.”
All the work has been worth it, so she can do what she loves best.
“The greatest joy is definitely acting, getting to play Rilla. Taking the scene that’s on the page, that’s written down and the words and then stepping into that page with my whole self and making it three dimensional for an audience,” she said. “Because I love this story so much, it’s totally worth it.”
She’s sure her audiences will love it too.
“People who are Anne fans will just love to find out whatever happened to Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe,” she said.
And, as with Rilla and for Hanet, there’s something for us to learn too.
“It teaches a great lesson about hardship, that people become stronger and grow under hardship,” Hanet said. “One of the lines in the play is, ‘When we have to do a thing, we can do it.’
“Come out and see it because it’ll be funny. It’ll make you laugh. It’ll warm your heart. It’ll feed your brain.”
Rilla of the Island will be performed in Rosebud’s Akokiniskway Gallery. Limited tickets are still available from July 22-25. Tickets are $15. For tickets or more information, see the Rilla of the Island Facebook event page, or email rillaoftheisland@hotmail.com.