Little Women

LITTLE WOMEN IS CAPTIVATING, WITH A DELIGHTFUL CAST BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO THIS CLASSIC!

Adapted for the stage by Anne-Marie Casey, the well-loved classic novel by Louisa May Alcott has arrived at The Lowry. Having read and enjoyed the novel in my younger years and watched (and rewatched multiple times) the 1994 film of said novel, I’m no stranger to the story of the March sisters or the various characters that feature in their journey from girlhood to womanhood. I was very much looking forward to spending this evening with these ‘old friends’ and interested to see how this adaptation of a story originally published 156 years ago (I was absolutely astonished that it was that long ago by the way!!!) would bring to life rebellious tomboy Jo, beautiful and vain Meg, sensitive and anxious Beth, spoilt selfish Amy, charming and exciting Laurie, Matriarch Marmee and everyone else, quite frankly.  

Anne-Marie Casey is a screenwriter, playwright and novelist (An Englishwoman in New York; The Real Liddy James; Wuthering Heights) and is no stranger to the challenges faced by women, including those who don’t quite seem able (or willing!) to fit neatly into the mould into which they are expected to fold. In this adaptation she has remained true to the original novel, and the outcome is a sensitive, respectful nod to a classic, in a way which feels relatable to more modern times, situations and people, and simultaneously brings out the fun and the energy of its characters in a way which is extremely easy and pleasing to watch unfold as the evening passes.

The performance provides us with a front-frow seat (well, Row P in my case but you see my meaning!) to the journey of the March sisters as they navigate their way through life, meeting obstacles and challenges, working through the nuanced events of their separate and interwoven lives, and figuring out the best ways through. We see them adapting to a life in which they are newly poor during the Civil War era, but still offer, not always willingly in some cases, what they have, to share with others. We see the struggles attached to missing terribly their father, waiting upon each and every letter from him as he serves his County as a Chaplain for the Army, and their experiences of hope, love, loss and everything in between that makes life the twisting, non-linear journey to happiness that it ultimately is for all of us. We all seek happiness, but it doesn’t look or feel the same for each of us and let’s be honest, it’s almost never as simple as moving from A to B to find it, is it?! In many ways, it is surprising that even 156 years later, the situations and events that unfold as they come of age and attempt to find their places in the world are not all that different from our own stories. Against often unfamiliar, sometimes unexpected, sometimes hostile backdrops, they are making their way, forging bonds of love, both romantic and familial in nature, exploring the breadth and depth, the highs and lows of the world of sisterhood, and giving us endless lessons in the art of courage, ambition, humility and authenticity. And there is a real ease about the performance that makes it feel familiar somehow, and draws you in as a witness yes, but also a participant in their lives. It’s very well done in that way.  

The staging of this delightful production only adds to the charm, joy and feel of the experience. Set and costume designer Ruari Murchison really has created a beautiful visual treat for us, which transports us to inside the pages of the original novel and envelopes us all in a cosy, welcoming way. Murchison’s use of costume and props take us seamlessly along the journey of the characters over time, complimenting at every point Alcott’s original novel, Casey’s modern adaptation and Loveday Ingam’s direction, and it all flows together in a way which feels lovely, steady and natural. The set comes alive further with Mike Robertsons lighting design. Honestly, despite it being a simple unfussy set, the subtleness of the lighting and the modest costumes, it somehow blends in all the right way. The effect is warm, pleasant, and there is clearly a little bit of theatre alchemy at play. The fact that, at times it felt like Chrismas, just sprinkled even more joy to an already shimmering experience.

The cast deliver a fabulously fun and energetic performance throughout, really bringing to life the richness of these characters and their individual personalities in such a way that we, the audience feel like we have a genuine connection with, and vested interest in their outcomes. The writing and the acting make these characters matter to us and as a result, we invest in them, we root for them, we feel their heartbreaks, we celebrate their successes, we recognise pieces of ourselves and the women in our own lives in them – we are them and they are us. It’s cleverly done.   

This is a small, but perfectly selected cast. The females leads are all great, all delivering strong performances. They are undoubtedly believable as family. Belinda Lang (2point4 Children, Sister Boniface Mysteries, Oklahoma!, What the Butler Saw) just *is* Aunt March in every way you imagine her to be from Alcott’s writing. With a cantankerous nature and scheming heart that only such forceful (and aged) characters can get away with having, she is lovable and loathable all rolled into one. She is a woman who marches to her own drumbeat, pulls no punches and says exactly what she wants, when she wants and how she wants. She provides many LOL moments, raises numerous chuckles and delights with her expressive faces. Honeysuckle Weeks (Foyles War, Calendar Girls the Musical) is steady, warm but with hints of the strength and fire that she shares with daughter Jo as Marmee. Grace Molony (Country Girls, The Great) is excellent as the headstrong, mould breaking, rule breaking Jo. Molony positively fizzes with all the effervescent energy and outrage for the ‘inevitable fate’ of marriage and children that is intended for females of her time that you expect from Jo – who fiercely covets the right to write as a woman, the right to choose her path and break free from expectations to be herself. When she doubles down to the softer, quieter side of her character, we feel that, and she breathes life into those moments.

Jade Kennedy (Rebus: A Game Called Malice) plays beautifully both the romantic and materialistic sides of Meg with such warmth and grace and openness that you can’t help but love her a little bit. Always the most traditional and closest to the idea of the perfect ‘Little Woman’ of all the sisters, Kennedy imbibes the sentimentality and affection which I believe Alcott wrote the character with all those years ago and it’s a lovely portrayal which really does capture the essence of this character. Beth, the timid, empathetic and arguably most loving of the sisters is played to perfection by Catherine Chalk (Hilma). The peacemaker. The speaker of soft wisdom. The gentle soul with a heart of pure and fragile gold is brought to life in a beautiful performance by Chalk, who delivers a powerhouse of a performance at times which left me feeling like I’d quite liked to have given her a motherly squish myself! Imogen Elliott (Grantchester) plays Amy, who was always my least favourite sister (if it’s OK to admit that!?). Amy March was always the sister character I struggled the most to relate to in this novel, because she, to me, was the embodiment of everything I resented, and still do resent, as a woman living in a world where social acceptance and your worth as a woman is determined almost entirely by superficial qualities such as physical appearance. I disliked Amy for her obsession with her physical self above everything else about her – the hyper fixation on her nose not being perfect being a good example. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find in Elliot’s performance, a version of Amy that I quite liked in the end. Not always, but more often than I did in reading the novel or watching the 90’s film and I really do credit her interpretation and portrayal of the character for this. Yes, she is still annoyingly coquettish, sharp tongued, self-important, arrogant and often selfish – but she is also softer around the edges, humbler and a little more genuine and I feel that the thing I liked most was that Elliott really brought out of the character in a much more positive light, her adaptability, her determination to have the life she wants and her inability to door to love in half measures.

The male performers were equally impressive. Cillian Lenaghan (The Woman in the Wall, Whitetail, Waiting for the Offo, Dubliners) plays Laurie in a way that you get the sense Alcott would have loved to see. Lenaghan paints with vibrancy Laurie’s cheeky, lovable nature, his enormous sense of fun, his youthful, joyful exuberance and on a deeper level, his sensitive heart and soul ticking away underneath it all. Jack Ashton (Call the Midwife, The Archers) performs dual roles, delivering a believable strong German accent as Professor Bhaer, capturing the essence of this character as a quiet, intelligent, loveable man with all the best elements of the typical nice guy geek and alternatively offers us a rather more refined and polished performance as the gentlemanly John Brooke in the first half.

This production serves up all the heart that Alcott gifted to us in her original novel. I really do not think it matters whether you’re a long-time fan of the book, have never read it but saw one of the seven (yes, that’s right, seven!) movie adaptations of it, or have never heard of it. It is a celebration of women and more generally, it reminds us that we all deserve and should strive for the right to be the leading characters in our own little stories. It imparts wisdom around our responsibilities to each other as humans, reminds us that one size does not fit all and that it’s OK for that to be the case and above all, gives being a good, kind person, something which is too often seriously underrated, the limelight and credit that it's due because ultimately, we see throughout this work, all the characters defaulting to goodness and kindness (even if they take different roads to get there!). This is a new, relatable, captivating performance of a familiar and beloved classic, with a delightful cast breathing new life into the 156-year-old characters and their little lives and it just works beautifully.

WE SCORE LITTLE WOMEN...