After watching a dress rehearsal, it’s easy to see why this beloved classic, Little Women, has been made into seven major motion pictures and then into numerous TV, anime and theater productions. Roberta Weiner has written a one hour play version perfect for her students: high school, middle school and elementary school. Double casting the major parts, of the four sisters and Laurie, allowed for more of the students to take starring roles. The second act therefore gave fresh faces to the parts, but remained true to the original book.
The story is told as a flashback, narrated by the main character, older Jo March (Gwen Rosen.) Gwen gave a fine performance of a tomboy who grows up to be independent, craves to be a writer, but loves her family so dearly that when she cries at the thought of losing Beth, it’s perfectly believable. She must learn to curb her temper, but her fury when her youngest sister Amy throws her beloved manuscript in the fire seems completely justified. Young Amy, as played by Bonnie Stone, is charming and dramatic as the spoiled baby of the family. Young Jo, as played by Maggie Mulik, chaffs at being told to be more ladylike, and wishes she was a boy and could take over the support of the family. Young Meg (Rosie Foley) as the eldest is properly responsible and considerate. Young Beth, as played by Ava Snyder, projects the sweetness of her character well. Young Laurie, played by Winslow Friend, becomes great friends with all four sisters, and wishes to be part of their lively circle. Young Amy’s strict teacher, precisely portrayed by Samantha Reed, smacks Amy hard on her hand as punishment for a mild misdeed, and loses a student because the kind Marmee will not let Amy be subject to corporal punishment.
Marmee, as played by Viv McCarter, presides over her brood as a loving mother hen. She is distraught to learn that her husband, away as a chaplain in the Civil War down south, has been seriously injured. She of course flies to his side, accompanied by the principled and helpful Mr. Brooke (Connor Frey.) In an interesting twist, while most youth theater programs require that girls play many of the boy’s parts, here, Connor Frey, a boy, also plays Mrs. Hummel. She is the poor German woman huddled in a shack near the March’s home with a sick baby and five other children, and no food or wood for heat. The little women prove what good girls they are by agreeing to give their Christmas dinner to the destitute Mrs. Hummel and her children. This good deed leads to another, as Mr. Laurence (Ruby Smith) hears of their generosity and sends over a feast of his own.
Much is made of the fact that the Marches are poor. Besides adding to the pathos of the story, it does reflect the truth of Louisa May Alcott‘s own family. Like Jo wanted, Louisa herself did indeed have to provide for her family. Her own father gave himself over to idealistic plans while his own family struggled. When her book, Little Women, became a big success, she was forced to write numerous other similarly charming tales for young audiences because they needed the money. So when the petty other girls in Young Amy’s school gossip about how she’ll never be able to pay them back in pickled limes, and Older Meg (Alyssa DeViaam) is humiliated to hear her friends talking about her with pity because she has no other ball gowns to send home for, it rings true. Girls can be cruel, and readers, no doubt, responded to the truth shown in these other silly girls, as well as the striving for goodness of the March sisters.
Many actors played two or three parts, and one who did this especially well was Lexi Chek. She first plays Hannah, the obedient and resourceful housekeeper, then the dear Professor Bhaer, with a good German accent, and then later Yum Yum, singing a clear solo in the delightful “Three Little Maids at School.” Caroline Dean shines as well as the crabby, impossible to please Aunt March. She provides humor when after bossing older Amy around in Paris, she lets loose when no one is looking and dances a few happy steps, but then throws her back out and has to limp away. Caroline also plays a minor part as Annie. Similarly, after Ruby Smith appears as Mr. Laurence, she reappears as Mrs. Gardiner and then as Fred Vaughn. The costumes and scenery changes are amazing.
When older Beth (Claire Nielsen) become sick with the scarlet fever she caught from tending the Hummel‘s children, the little women must grow up quickly. Older Jo is the most distraught, but Older Meg, who has now married Mr. Brooke, is also very concerned. Typically, though, Older Amy (Scarlett Hemming) is off having a fine time in Paris with Laurie and his many society friends. Once Jo rejects Laurie’s marriage proposal, heartbreakingly not wanting to lose him as a best friend, Laurie turns to Amy, who longs to live in the upper echelons as the Laurences do. Older Laurie (Graham Lemieux) finally realizes that Jo would be much happier with a kind but educated professor, who could intelligently critique her writing and open her to a world of books and knowledge.
The play ends with a rousing Christmas carol sung by the entire cast. The girls decide that this is how Beth, now in heaven, would want them to spend their Christmas. This show was a delightful holiday treat, as heartwarming as a plate of Christmas cookies and a mug of hot chocolate.
Thank you so much for this review of the Prana Center’s production of Little Women! We so appreciate your support of the arts in Holliston!