Growing up in Orangeville, Caroline Toal and her next-door best friend played make-believe in the world of Anne of Green Gables. Toal is now starring as Anne Shirley in playwright-director Kat Sandler’s Stratford Festival adaptation of the classic story — but back then, she was always Diana Barry. This wasn’t owing to a lack of whimsy and romance on her part, but rather the simple fact that she’s a brunette. The typecasting starts young.
I was enraptured by Toal’s performance when I saw Stratford’s world premiere production, which garnered glowing reviews and recently received a three-week extension. Throughout, the actor moves with a wide-eyed, bewildered gaze and speaks breathlessly, articulating every word with the dramatic emphasis of a child desperate to be heard. She’s rarely still, and often fidgeting with her dress or hands. For two-and-a-half hours, Toal completely embodies Anne Shirley.
As we chatted on Zoom one Tuesday evening, Toal recounted that her road to the Avon Theatre was not straightforward. After moving to Toronto to attend the George Brown Theatre School, Toal acted in many productions on stage and screen, and auditioned for Stratford a few times with no luck. “I knew I was never gonna get to Stratford from a general audition,” she reflected. Instead, she expected her arrival at the festival to be something more specific — “something that I feel like is really meant for me.”
Considering the magnitude of her role in Anne of Green Gables, I think it’s fair to say her hunch was right.
The two-time Dora Award-winner didn’t book the part through a formal audition. She’d read for Anne in multiple workshops of the show, and believed she would only be part of the development process. “I remember the auditions happened, and I didn’t get one,” she said.
After the auditions took place, she was brought in for another workshop, where she was asked to read for Diana (the typecasting lives on). A week or two later, Sandler called to offer her the lead.
Toal and Sandler have collaborated for many years, and the former reflected admiringly on workshop processes for a couple of Sandler’s early shows, describing how she and a few other actor friends would “sit in [Sandler’s] living room and drink wine and read her million-hour scripts that are, like, unedited and brilliant.”
Even after Anne of Green Gables rehearsals officially began, the process remained collaborative. The cast was heavily involved in shaping 40 or so drafts of the script, all the way up to their opening at the end of May. This approach mirrors the production’s engagement with “the power of imagination,” as Sandler put it in her director’s note.
“We definitely give [Sandler] ideas, and she changes things based on what we say. Or even if we [mess] up and make a mistake, she’ll be like, ‘Oh, yeah. Use that. That’s hilarious,’” said Toal about the playfulness of it all. “I’ve always had a big imagination. I’m so grateful that I can put it to use and do something I love with it.”
Toal shared, without hesitation, that her favourite rendition of Anne Shirley is Megan Follows in the beloved 1980s miniseries. Sometimes, she even plays the soundtrack in the dressing room before the show.
There may be a little Follows in Toal’s portrayal of Anne, but she mainly pulls from memories of her own childhood. Thanks to years of personal archives, the actor is able to access the worldview of her child self. “I was reading my diary from when I was 12 [or] 13, and seeing what headspace I was in,” she told me.
Considering Toal’s success as Anne, it wasn’t surprising to learn that she’s played many children over the years. Her first professional theatre gig as an adult was Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird at Young People’s Theatre.
Specific physical choices help Toal approach this tricky task of playing young. “The [foundation] for me is the physicality of it,” she said: “[To just be] so loose, and not uncomfortable in your body yet.”
But Anne’s physicality doesn’t remain stagnant throughout the show. Despite the character’s initial lack of self-consciousness, Toal thinks of teen Anne as less comfortable in her body, particularly when she’s around her crush, Gilbert (played by Jordin Hall).
Through it all, the core of her performance comes from within. “If I’m playing a kid, it’s just me, Caroline, with my emotions a little bit more heightened,” she said.
And even when playing a child who, like Anne, has experienced trauma, Toal doesn’t tend to think of kids as jaded. “There seems to always be hope, especially with Anne,” she remarked. “You don’t see that a lot in adult characters.”
When I asked why Anne’s story needs to be told right now, Toal spoke to the character’s imaginative outlook with deep reverence. “Anne is such a beacon of hope, and she’s so positive and resilient as a character,” she shared, tearing up.
“The story is so hopeful and beautiful and funny and silly and moving — and I think that nowadays, it’s so nice to be reminded of hope.”
Anne of Green Gables runs until November 16 at the Stratford Festival’s Avon Theatre. Tickets are available here.
The Stratford Festival is an Intermission partner. Learn more about Intermission’s partnership model here.
WRITTEN BY
Gus Lederman
Gus Lederman (they/he) is a writer and performer in Tkaronto. Currently, they’re in their last semester of OCAD University’s Creative Writing program, where they were Editor-in-Chief of the first edition of the student literary journal, Pulse. Gus participated in the 2024 New Young Reviewers Program with Toronto Fringe, and has since written for Canopy Magazine. They enjoy composing original music, writing plays, and are passionate about climate justice, trans-ness, and puppetry.
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