MC Communication Department Presents “Anne of Green Gables”
The classic tale of "Anne of Green Gables" was brought to life by MC students and Clintonians.
The Mississippi College Department of Communication staged “Anne of Green Gables” at the Entergy Theater in the Gore Arts Complex on Friday, Feb. 9 and Saturday Feb. 10. The play is based on the 1908 novel of the same name by L.M. Montgomery and used a script adapted by Peter DeLaurier.
A tea party, held before the Saturday 2 p.m. matinee, invited guests to take part in tea party fare, raspberry cordial, music, dancing, and meet-and-greets with characters from the play.
Dr. Phyills Seawright, who recently announced her retirement, directed her final play at MC with student director Emma Ellard.
“Particularly Emma in this case has been wonderful,” Seawright said. “Emma said, ‘I want to work on this show,’ and I said, ‘great!’ She took off and did all of the production work and planning. Because she’s had a significant amount of theater work, she knows how to work with staging and actors, as she is an actress herself.”
Ellard has been acting since high school and has many acting feats on her resume. While at MC, she starred as Mary Bailey in 2021’s “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Radio Play” and as Mary Debenham in 2023’s “Murder on the Orient Express.” She was also involved with Follies her sophomore year and was in the Madison Center Players Community Theatre production of “Into the Woods” this past summer.
“This experience has been very profound and rewarding for me because of the community I found in it,” Ellard said. “I guess also the fulfillment I had in watching something that I had a hand in come to life on stage is really cool.”
Freshman pre-nursing major Frannie Dean of Jackson starred as the title character. Dean carries a lifetime of acting experience with her. Her first role was at age 5; she played Molly in “Annie” at Jackson’s New Stage Theatre. Over the course of her life, she has starred in several plays both at New Stage and Jackson Academy. This is her first credit in an MC production.
“It actually was a pretty spur-of-the-moment thing,” Dean said. “I wasn’t planning on doing theater in college. As a pre-nursing major, that was not really where I was headed in life. I saw they were doing ‘Anne of Green Gables.’ I was raised on ‘Anne of Green Gables’ and love it, so I had to audition.”
Two Clinton homeschoolers, sisters Waverly and Darcy Renick, lent their musical abilities to the performances. Darcy played the violin during scene transitions, while Waverly, in addition to being Anne’s understudy, sang a hymn in the play’s second act.
“I sing the first verse of ‘This Is My Father’s World,’” Waverly said. “It was a hymn from around the same time that ‘Anne of Green Gables’ was written.”
“I play by ear,” Darcy said. “I have a CD from the 1980’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ movie. I picked it out, and Emma made me tags to play in-between scenes.”
Hundreds flocked to the auditorium for the three shows over the weekend. Senior Bio Pre-Med major Austin Flynn and junior Digital Illustration major Eleanor Acton attended the matinee on Saturday.
“I really liked it,” Acton said. “I think the casting was excellent and it was an all around good show, from the music to the acting. It was great!”
“I thought the acting was wonderful,” said Flynn. “From what I remembered from the movies, they followed the storyline pretty nicely and did a beautiful adaptation.”
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