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SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's house, a day
Anne Shirley: Oh, it looks marvellous.
Marilla Cuthbert: Just like a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Anne: Dream? Whose dream?
Rachel Lynde: William Shakespeare’s I should think.
Marilla: It’s the name of a theatre play he wrote. The Avonlea Book Club read it this month. The decorations are to inspire tonight’s discussion.
Anne: Oh, Midsummer Night’s Dream. How enchanting!
Rachel: What did you think of it, Marilla? Wasn’t the ending absolutely thrilling?
Marilla: Don’t tell me! I haven’t finished yet.
Gilbert Blythe: Morning.
Rachel: Gilbert! What are you doing with Mrs. Samuel’s ice cream maker?
Gilbert: Her sister just had triplets.
Rachel: Triplets?!
Marilla: When it rains, it pours.
Gilbert: So... she won’t be able to make the ice cream for tonight.
Rachel: But it’s our only refreshment.
Anne: We never got ice cream when I lived at the orphanage.
Rachel: Our guests won’t get any now either.
Anne: Marilla and I can make it!
Marilla: Now, Anne…
Anne: Mrs. Lynde needs our help. And I’d so love even the teeniest taste of ice cream.
Marilla: Oh, all right.
Rachel: Marilla. Are you sure you have time?
Marilla: Of course. It will be my pleasure.
Anne: Our pleasure, huh.
Rachel: How are the lines coming, Gilbert?
Gilbert: Just about memorized.
Anne: Lines? Memorized?
Rachel: Gilbert’s performing a scene from tonight’s play.
Anne: But I thought the book club was for grown ups only.
Gilbert: I guess I am an exception.
Anne: I guess…
SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's porch, later
Anne: If there’s an exception for Gilbert, there’s surely an exception for me. I simply must find a way to attend tonight’s book club. And I know just the thing.
SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's parlor, later
Rachel: You want to perform a Shakespeare scene too? Are you sure you’ve got the time?
Anne: Absolutely!
Rachel: Well, I suppose we could have a little something to finish off the night.
Anne: Oh, Mrs. Lynde, you won’t regret it. See you this evening!
Rachel: Don’t tell me it’s autumn already.
SCENE: Green Gables kitchen, later
Anne: Huh, I’ll finish my chores. Let’s start!
Marilla: Now, hold your horses. Ice cream is a very long process.
Anne: And I can’t wait. I have all sorts of things to do.
Marilla: Anne, this ice cream will take all day to make. You haven’t got a spare second and nor have I.
Anne: Oh, really? Oh, well, I’m sure it’ll be alright. What do we do first?
Marilla: You fetch some cream from Matthew. I’ll get some ice from Mr. Lawson’s.
Anne: What a full day this is going to be. I’ll just have to squeeze in the time I have to prepare scene for the book club.
Oh, I best choose something from Marilla’s book first. And quick, before she leaves.
SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's parlor, later
Rachel: Everything looks so special. I wonder if we shouldn’t add something extra special to your performance too.
Gilbert: Like what?
Rachel: A costume. Which part are you playing?
Gilbert: The character which turns into a donkey.
Rachel: A donkey! Why, that’s perfect. Now you get right on that. I’ve got to start squeezing lemons for lemonade.
SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's porch, later
Gilbert: How am I going to make a donkey mask? I know who to talk to!
SCENE: Green Gables, later
Anne: Picking a Shakespeare scene is harder than I thought. These plays are big and complicated.
Marilla: Now, where has my book gone?
Anne: Uh oh.
Marilla: There it is.
Anne: I- I- I was just having a look.
Marilla: Well, quit your dawdling, child, and fetch the cream. I’ll be back from Lawson’s soon enough.
Anne: Ah, no Shakespeare and no other ideas. What do I do now? I suppose I should get that cream before anything else.
SCENE: Lawson's store, later
Mr. Lawson: I just love a lick of ice cream. Wish I could have a taste tonight.
Marilla: But Mr. Lawson, you will! You’re leading the discussion.
Mr. Lawson: Not since that shipment got held up. I’ll be in Carmody.
Marilla: Then who will lead the discussion tonight?
Mr. Lawson: Perhaps you might.
Marilla: I have quite enough on my plate.
Mr. Lawson: You’ll do a splendid job, Marilla.
Marilla: I suppose.
Mr. Lawson: You’re a lifesaver. Here’s the ice. Shall I take it to your carriage?
Marilla: I can manage. You’ve quite a lot to manage now, Marilla.
SCENE: Green Gables barn, later
Anne: Matthew, it that the butter man leaving?
Matthew: Yep. I’ve just finished churning all the cream into butter.
Anne: All of it? But I need cream for the ice cream! It’s the book club’s only refreshment.
Matthew: Well, there’s always Grumpy Gussy in the back pasture. Haven’t milked her.
Anne: [off-screen] Grumpy Gussy?
Matthew: Would you like some help?
Anne: Huh, no thank you. The problem’s mine, Matthew, and I shall fix it myself.
SCENE: Back pasture, later
Anne: Uh, uh. Come on, Gussy. Aha! Mmm, yummy good grass. Oh, this is never gonna work.
SCENE: Green Gables barn, later
Gilbert: Mr. Cuthbert?
Matthew: [off-screen] Up here.
What can I do for you?
Gilbert: I promised Mrs. Lynde I’d make a donkey mask for the role I play tonight.
Matthew: Oh, you must be performing Bottom speech from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Gilbert: When he has a fairy spell put on him.
Matthew: And becomes a donkey.
Gilbert: You know it?
Matthew: I saw it once, a real hood[?]. So, you think this old fella could help?
Gilbert: Yes! Well… not the old part. But the helping part.
Matthew: Well, I’ve done most of my chores for today so I suppose I can.
Gilbert: Mr. Cuthbert, thanks a bundle.
SCENE: Back pasture, later
Anne: Uh, uh. I should be finding my dramatization, not shoving you in for milking. Uh, uh, uh. Please! Uh, uh.
Ugh. Huh. That worked. Wait for me!
SCENE: Way to Green Gables, later
Marilla: Good gravy. How am I going to make ice cream and read the play? Perhaps if I read a few pages on the way home…
Ah, now this is working just fine.
SCENE: Green Gables barn, later
Anne: Come on, Gussy, just one pail of milk. Uh, ah. The whole book club is eagerly anticipating a taste of ice cream.
What an utter disaster.
SCENE: The woods, later
Marilla: Rachel’s right. It is a thrilling conclusion. Flying fiddleheads! I’ve taken the wrong road!
That ice will be water before I get back to Green Gables. That’ll teach me to do two things at once. Come on! Tsk tsk tsk. Back we go!
SCENE: Green Gables barn, later
Gilbert: Hee-haw. Hee-haw.
Matthew: Is this a donkey I see before me?
Gilbert: Not yet, but it will be soon.
Matthew: I’ll saw off these nobby bits. You slap on a coat of paint and we can do the finishing touches when it dries.
Gilbert: I sure appreciate your help.
SCENE: Green Gables kitchen, later
Anne: And Grumpy Gussy barely gave me a drop.
Marilla: How did you end up with Grumpy Gussy?
Anne: I made the most horrible error and got to the barn after Matthew had churned all the cream into a butter.
Marilla: Didn’t I tell you not to dally?
Anne: It’s only that my mind has been so distracted. I told Mrs. Lynde I would perform tonight, just like Gilbert!
Marilla: You can’t possibly manage all of that.
Anne: I can, Marilla. I must. I shall!
Marilla: Huh. What a pair we are. You best buy a cream at Mr. Lawson’s before this ice melts completely.
Anne: Right away. And on the way home, I’ll pick some blueberries for flavour.
SCENE: Lawson's store, later
Gilbert: Where shall we play? Town or forest?
Anne: Play what?
Felix King: Hide and seek. Wanna join us?
Anne: Oh, yes! I love hide and seek! Aw.
Wait, I can’t. I have previous commitments.
Gilbert: Come on, it’ll be fun!
Anne: How can you play, Gilbert? Don’t you have a dramatization to practice?
Gilbert: I’ve learned it. I’m only waiting for paint to dry on my costume.
Anne: Costume? You’ve got a costume too?
Felix: So what’ll it be? Town or forest?
Gilbert: Forest.
Mr. Lawson: Hello, Anne.
Anne: Ah, a bottle of cream, please.
Mr. Lawson: Coming right up.
Anne: Hide and seek is one of my favourite games.
Katie Maurice: Why don’t you play for just a little while?
Anne: Because I wanna make the ice cream. And I wanna do my dramatization.
Katie: But hide and seek is such fun! There must be a way to make ice cream, find the speech and enjoy yourself.
Felix: You sure you don’t wanna play, Anne?
Anne: Uh, I don’t know.
Katie: [winks]
Anne: Maybe just a short while.
Felix: Great, come on!
Mr. Lawson: Anne! Anne?
Now where did she go?
SCENE: The woods, later
Anne: [laughs] I’m gonna get you!
Gilbert: Noo! You’re not gonna get me, Anne! Come on! [laughs]
Anne: Gotcha! Alright, Gilbert’s it.
Children: [laugh]
Gilbert: Oh, uh. Let me catch my breath. [laughs] Phew. One-two-three-four-five-six-seven-
Children: Hey, not fair.
Gilbert: Eight. Nine. Nine and a half. And one more is... ten!
Anne: Oh, so much fun. I’m so glad I did this. Oh. And there’s blueberries. Blueberries… Oh, no! I should be helping Marilla, or at least be learning my scene. [?] ever making all those silly commitments, they’ve made me miserable. I just want to forget all about them.
SCENE: Anne's imagination, forest, later
Dryad: [off-screen] Eh.
Anne: Oh.
Dryad: [?] I know what you mean about commitments.
Anne: Dryad! What is it you committed to?
Dryad: I promised to transport the Fairy Queen back to her castle after her royal retreat.
First, we gotta get this boat in a good working order.
Fairy: Good working order! That’s my job. Eh… Could you help me with the oars?
Anne: Which oars?
Dryad: That’s just it. We don’t have any yet.
Anne: I think I know there are some good branches. They’ll make great oars. Come on!
Fairy: I’ll test this boat, don’t you worry! Uh. [yawns] First the snooze. [snores]
SCENE: Anne's imagination, forest, later
Dryad: Aa! [laughs] Ah. Wohooo!
Anne: Hey!
Dryad: Grab one!
Anne: Wohoo! [laughs]
Dryad: [laughs] I bet I can swing further than you!
Anne: [laughs] Bet you can’t.
Dryad: [laughs]
Anne: Let me try! Yupee!
Dryad and Anne: Woohoo! [laugh]
Anne: Uh.
Dryad: Ah.
That was fun.
Anne: Yes, but we haven’t found oars yet.
Dryad: No, [?]
Anne: But we promised the queen we’d pick her up.
Dryad: Oh, we will. But [?] what doesn’t get done today, can get done tomorrow.
Anne: What a wonderful way to deal with commitments.
SCENE: Anne's imagination, forest, later
Fairy: [snores]
Dryad: [off-screen] Ehm.
Fairy: Yes! Yes! Good working order.
Dryad: Uh, I sure hope so. We better fetch the queen.
Fairy: Oh. Oh. [?] Ready as we'll ever be.
Dryad: [coughs] Life jackets.
Fairy: Life jackets.
Anne: Uh, we’ll use our arms to paddle, Dryad and I didn’t have time to find oars.
Fairy: That’s fine. Arms can do the trick.
Anne: I’m sure it’s easy when people don't hold you to your commitments.
Hey, we’re sinking.
Dryad: Have you been napping the whole time?
Fairy: Maybe I didn’t test the boat after all.
Anne: Fulfilling commitments is important after all. But look how we let people down if we don’t hold to them.
Fairy: Commitments are silly. Uh-oh.
Oh nooo… [snores]
Dryad: That got my word cut out for me.
Anne: Me too. I better see to my commitments.
SCENE: Forest, present day, later
Anne: Eh. Gilbert!
Gilbert: You found my favourite hiding spot.
Anne: Yes, but I’m not playing anymore.
Gilbert: Why not?
Anne: I promised to fetch cream and berries.
Gilbert: Oh, well, look on the bright side.
Anne: What bright side?
Gilbert: You’re sitting in a berry patch. I’ll help you pick the berries if you like.
Anne: Oh, Gilbert Blythe, I’m eternally in your debt.
SCENE: Way to Green Gables, later
Anne: Now what will I do with my dramatization?
Peg Bowen: My, my…
Anne: [gasps]
Peg: What’s the rush?
Anne: P-peg B-bowen. Uh, I-I’m in the most horrible predicament. I have to find a Shakespeare scene for the book club tonight. The only problem is I… I don’t know Shakespeare.
Peg: I do.
Anne: You do?
Peg: Well, never met the man myself but there’s always been one scene struck my fancy.
Anne: What is it?
Peg: The witches’ scene from the play Macbeth.
Anne: Uh… witches?
Peg: It’s good and spooky. [laughs]
Anne: Well… spooky is dramatic.
Peg: That’s what I always say. [blows]
Anne: So long it’s [?]. That’s very kind of you. Peg Bowen? [gasps]
SCENE: Green Gables kitchen, later
Marilla: [off-screen] Whatever took you so long?
Anne: Marilla, I ignored my commitments only to realize they’re important to you and the Book Club.
Marilla: Ah, so long as you have the ingredients.
Anne: Oh, I do!
Marilla: Then let’s get to it.
Right then. Anne, you churn. I’ll press tonight’s outfit and then I’ll take over.
Anne: I’m going to do the witches speech from Macbeth tonight.
Matthew: Ooo, scary. Have you memorized it?
Anne: That’s precisely what I’m going to do while I churn. Double, double, toil and trouble…
SCENE: Green Gables barn, later
Gilbert: The throstle with his note so true / The wren with little quill...
Ah? Li-ttle red… no! I’ve already done that line.
Imaginary Matthew, Marilla, Hetty and Rachel: [laugh]
Gilbert: [gasps] And what if I forget my lines? I’ll be standing up there in front of everybody! Oh, what if I’m terrible?
SCENE: Green Gables kitchen, later
Marilla: Goodness. We have quite a way to go and almost no time left.
Anne: Your turn. I have to find my costume.
Marilla: I haven’t had a second to finish A Midsummer Night’s Dream. How can I lead the discussion if I don’t even know the ending?
Matthew: Anne was reading while she churned.
Marilla: Oh, no. I’ve already tried doing two things at once earlier today. You’ll never guess where it got me.
Matthew: Well then, let me churn.
Marilla: No, I got myself into this and I will get myself out. I have a few pages left. Couldn’t you read them out loud?
Matthew: Well, I’m no actor. [coughs]
SCENE: Green Gables barn, later
Anne: Gilbert, what are you doing here?
Gilbert: Matthew helped me with my costume. Hee-haw.
Anne: So lovely. So… why are you so glum?
Gilbert: I can’t remember my lines. I think I have stage fright. Yauu.
What am I gonna do?
Anne: We’ll think of something.
Marilla: [off-screen] Anne!
Anne: Come on.
Gilbert: I can’t. Anne, I can’t go on.
Anne: Don’t worry, I have an idea.
SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's house, later
Rachel: Ehem. Ehem. With great pleasure I introduce Gilbert Blythe’s dramatization from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Anne: Now, remember what to do if you forget your lines.
Gilbert: I will.
I see their knavery: this is to make an ass out of me / to...
...to fright me, if they could. But I will not... I will not...
I will not stir / from this place, do what they can: I will... walk up / and down here, and I will sing, that they shall hear I am not afraid. / The ousel cock so black of hue / With orange-tawny bill / The throstle with his note so true / The wren with little quill...
Audience: [laugh]
Gilbert: The finch, the sparrow and the lark / The plain-song cuckoo gray / Whose note full many a man doth mark / And dares not answer nay.
Auduence: [cheer] Bravo. Very good. Well done.
Gilbert: Thank you. Thank you.
Anne: Bravo!
SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's house, later
Marilla: A wonderful point, Mrs. Brown. And on that note we’ll wrap up our discussion of Shakespeare’s magical mystical A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Rachel: Well done, Marilla. You knew that play inside out.
Marilla: In all truth, I wish I'd had more preparation time.
Rachel: I only hope I can do as well next month when I lead the discussion.
Marilla: Now, where on this green Earth is the ice cream?
Anne: I’m ready.
Rachel: Ladies and gentlemen, may I present our last minute addition, Anne Shirley.
Anne: My scene is short so we can get to the punchline all the quicker. I’ve also taken the liberty of... well… improving what Mr. Shakespeare wrote.
Marilla: Whatever is that girl up to?
Anne: Imagine I’m a spooky witch standing over a cauldron. I’m about to tell Macbeth his fortune.
Double, double, toil and trouble. / Fire burn and cauldron bubble. / Round about the cauldron go, / in the cream and sugar throw. / Add the berries, ten or twenty. / And make ice cream for friends [?] [laughs]
Peg: [laughs]
Anne: [gasps]
SCENE: Mrs. Lynde's porch, later
Anne: Peg! Peg Bowen!
Gilbert: Boo!
Anne: Ah! Oh, oh, Gilbert. I thought someone out here might have liked some ice cream.
Gilbert: There is! Me!
Anne: We’ll share. It is divinely delicious.
Rachel: We’ll read a book by Charles Dickens next month. Wouldn’t it be fun if Anne and Gilbert performed something from A Christmas Carol?
Anne and Gilbert: [gasp]
Gilbert: What did we get ourselves into?
Rachel: Now where have they gone?
Anne: I think they really should keep their grown-ups only rule.
Gilbert: I agree.
Anne and Gilbert: [laugh]