New York: Outer Critics’ Circle award-nominated Royal Family Productions, a non-profit theatre company known for its innovative productions and development of new original work, will present Chris Henry’s two-part adaptation in full of LM Montgomery’s classic novel, Anne of Green Gables. The first part, Anne of Green Gables: Finding Home, was presented in a substantially different version in 2019, and Marilla of Green Gables: Becoming a Family is a brand-new conclusion to the original Anne of Green Gables story. Both shows are adapted and co-directed by Royal Family’s artistic director, Chris Henry, with choreography and co-direction from Lorna Ventura.

Ms. Henry’s Anne of Green Gable is a one-woman, movement-fueled, theatrical experience for all ages, featuring dynamic choreography by Lorna Ventura. Finding Home shares the journey of Anne Shirley, an imaginative, red-headed, hot-tempered, eleven-year-old orphan, and what happens when she is accidentally brought to the home of quiet siblings Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert in Prince Edward Island. Marilla of Green Gables: Becoming a Family shifts over to Marilla’s point of view as we see her navigate what becoming a mother really means as she continues to deal with Anne’s adventures growing up. These pieces are each stand-alone plays, but together they tell the story of three unlikely people meeting and eventually becoming a family.

“As someone who was adopted, the story of a fiery, strong, imaginative orphan girl really resonated with me throughout my childhood and throughout my life. I was inspired to take this material and adapt Ms. Montgomery’s text for the Royal Family stage with my collaborator, Lorna Ventura. We have stripped down the book to its essence and have broken it up into two parts. We hope that anyone who has ever tried to find their place in the world will find joy, inspiration, and home in the story of Anne of Green Gables.” – Artistic Director, Chris Henry

The cast of ANNE OF GREEN GABLES: FINDING HOME features Emmaline Goia (Women on Fire) and Maggie Langhorne (Ad and Ned).

The cast of MARILLA OF GREEN GABLES: BECOMING A FAMILY features Ephraim Birney (“Gotham,” “The Americans,” “Strawberry Mansion”), Francesca Fernandez (“Law & Order: SVU,” “Blue Bloods,” Jonah), Emmaline Gioia (Women on Fire: Fair is Foul), and Desi Waters (“The Blacklist,” Fame) with a dance ensemble of Emily Anne Davis and Madison McLean.

The creative team for this production includes Chris Henry (playwright/co-director), Lorna Ventura (co-director/choreography), Cheyenne Sykes (lighting and costume design), Bart Kuebler, Amanda Gates and Lars Jacobsen (original music), Stephanie Carlin (sound design), Devan McCulloch (technical director/props master), Rebecca Wilson, (Assistant Director), and Thomas J. Donohoe (Stage Manager).

Royal Family is led by Artistic Director Chris Henry and Creative Director Lorna Ventura.

CHRIS HENRY (Writer/Director) is an award-winning theatre director and writer based in New York City. CREATIVE DIRECTOR  Anthony Rapp’s Without You, WRITING/DIRECTING CREDITS WITH ROYAL FAMILY:  WOMEN ON FIRE: Stories from the Frontlines, WOMEN ON FIRE: Scorching the Dividing Lines, WOMEN ON FIRE: Fair is Foul, Louie, Red, and the Jazzman (in collaboration with Wycliffe Gordon), Nobody Suspects a Butterfly (originally a feature film treatment Henry wrote for Ross Greenburg, Former President of HBO Sports), MM2000 (in collaboration with Shane W. Evans) and Opal Ann Meets the Fabulous Kit Katt, A Play with Musical Fantasies (in collaboration with Summer Hyde and Daniel A. Weiss). DIRECTING CREDITS WITH ROYAL FAMILY: Brass Heart the musical, thoughts of a COLORED MAN on a day when the sun set too early, LOVE/SICK, Four Last Things, Dedalus Lounge, Safe Home.  NYC DIRECTING HIGHLIGHTS: Joe (Cherry Lane Mentor Project), Trans-Euro Express (Irish Arts Center), Art of War (Madison Square Garden), Sharpen Your Blade (“Time Out” Critic’s Pick), Fishbowl (New York Magazine Critic’s pick), Suicide Society (Winner Best Director). ACTORS THEATRE OF LOUISVILLE: The Actor’s Nightmare, Grace of I, Dog Named Becky, One Hundred Women, Electric Roses, Sure Thing. Henry was twice nominated for the Zelda Fichlander Award by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and won the New England Theater Conference Regional Directors Award.

LORNA VENTURA (Co-Director/Choreographer) Lorna Ventura is a Director/Choreographer with a long list of credits from Broadway to film and television. Original Broadway productions include: Wicked, Grease, All Shook Up, Harlem Song, Nice Work If You Can Get It, and The Life, as an Original Cast Member or Associate Choreographer —In addition, her collaborations and relationships with elite directors such as George C. Wolfe, Joe Mantello, Kathleen Marshall, Charles Randolph Wright, Ruben Santiago Hudson and Billy Porter have allowed her to hone her craft and transition with grace into the Director/Choreographer’s seat. Recent projects include Destiny of Desire (Choreographer) Old Globe, American Prophet (Choreographer) Arena Stage, Christmas in Hell, (Director/Choreographer), Reinkus Heinz Theater, Las Vegas premiere, Fiddler on the Roof (Choreographer) Olney Theater, WOMEN ON FIRE: Stories from the Frontlines, WOMEN ON FIRE: Scorching the Dividing Lines, WOMEN ON FIRE: Fair is Foul, (Director/Choreographer), Royal Family.Lorna’s choreography was recently featured in Empire the Musical at New World Stages, and She earned a Helen Hayes nomination for her work on American Prophet at Arena Stage. Lorna is passionate about the continued development of Black Birding with Queen Esther at Women’s Project and all the new development at Royal Family Productions, where she serves as the Creative Director.

ROYAL FAMILY’s mission is to galvanize the Times Square community by cultivating raw talent, collaborating with seasoned artists, and inspiring audiences with a diversity of lion-hearted theatre. To us, everyone in the theatre community is not only royalty but family. Our programs and productions give artists space at all stages of their careers. We don’t want to tell just any story: we want to best serve artists in telling their own stories. In today’s political and social climate, it is also more important than ever to celebrate all voices—especially those underrepresented in the traditional theatre space. At Royal Family, we celebrate the work of women and queer artists, playwrights of color, works with LGBTQIA themes, and artists of all ages and body types.

Royal Family has been a creative incubator of original, humanistic plays for over a decade. Bravery and fearlessness are imperative to our process. Artists and audiences alike are challenged in a creative, safe space to explore the humor and the tangled truths of the human condition. As actor and first-time playwright Anthony Rapp (Rent, Dazed and Confused, Star Trek: Discovery) observes, “Royal Family is committed to truthful, heartfelt, alive, theatrical storytelling. It’s vital to the human experience and hard to come by.”

Royal Family was established in 2007 by Katie Avebe, Mary Bernardi, Chris Henry, and Andy Theodorou as a home for artists wishing to challenge and transform the traditional theatre canon. Discover more at our website, www.royalfamilyproductions.org and follow us on social media. Insta: ROYALFAMILYPRODUCTIONS