Little Women: Stage Adaptation Review

I remember Little Women (1868) by Louisa May Alcott being one of the first books I had in my library – a hand-me-down from my grandma I think…

As a child and young teen I had no appreciation for the novel at all – it was (and still is a little) dry, and I had no interest in the hum-drum lives of the characters. Why then would I go and see a play of the same name years later? Firstly, I thought I’d give it another go as an adult, see if it might spark my imagination again, and secondly, theatre has this wonderful way of injecting life into all things – to see something on the stage is truly a new way of experiencing a text. It helped that the story was somewhat streamlined – something I am quite thankful for. I think it helped that we saw snippets of scenes like small windows into the four girls’ lives as the story progressed rather than the complexity and length of the original novel, while still capturing the central themes of family and exploration of the self.

The costuming was so well done and really did a lot of the hard work in transporting us to the 19th Century… and honestly made my friend and I very envious of simpler times where you could wear one dress every day! The set design was simplistic but interesting at the same time, with birch trees adorning the stage, helping to provide more emphasis to the emotional core of the story. Jo, the ‘main’ sister was performed admirably by Grace Molony; we really felt her discomfort, happiness, anguish and yearning for independence. In fact, all four of the sisters were played beautifully; a massive congratulations to Jade Kennedy (Meg), Catherine Chalk (Beth) and Imogen Elliott (Amy) for their performances. Another showstealer was the portrayal of Aunt March (Belinda Lang), who added a much-needed comic relief to the performance since the subject matter was so ‘of its time’.

As a queer person, the gender commentary within this stage play of Little Women really hit differently. It may be that the abridged version picked out more poignant moments, or that perhaps this reflects within me a formative moment for my personal identity, but it was so clear to me how much Jo struggles with her gender within this play. She’s so distinctly different; deliberately taking on ‘boyish’ ways, shortening and ‘degendering’ her name to Jo, play-fighting with her neighbour, the charismatic Laurie (Cillian Lenaghan). All of these aspects of her character indicate not only a struggle with the expectations of womanhood within the context of the era, but also may infer a wish to not reach ‘womanhood’ at all. It is only in the final scene of the play, when Laurie asks if they can be friends as they once were, do we see Jo accept with resignation that she and Laurie are not girl and boy anymore, but woman and man.

“It’s bad enough to be a girl, any way, when I like boy’s games, and work, and manners. I can’t get over my disappointment at not being a boy…” [cried Jo]

“Poor Jo; it’s too bad! But it can’t be helped, so you must try to be contented with making your name boyish and playing brother to us girls,” said Beth.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (1868)- Page 10

I do understand the need to be true to source material in this case, as this is a retelling and not a reimagining, so it makes sense that this theatre production is not pushing the dial any more than the original text when it comes to gender. This story ends through a reinforcement of the status quo only slightly changed; Jo decides she wishes to marry a man but insists she also works as a writer. Quite the boundary pushing ending for a woman writing in 1868, perhaps. Also quite interesting was that Alcott would then go on to write Little men (1871); tales of boyhood and growing up as a boy, whilst remaining unmarried and an active feminist. What I’d love to see more from theatre is the incorporation of the author’s voice, expanding into the realms of treating this book for it’s semi-autobiographical nature and having a characterisation of Louisa May Alcott on stage with Meg, Jo, Beth & Amy – a true homage to a trailblazer.

Thank you to the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry for the invitation to watch and review this touring play. Photo credit: Nobby Clark

Alcott, L.M. (1868). Little Women. New York: Baronet Books.

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