Little Women seems an odd choice for HOME’s festive production. Although the story features scenes set around Christmas time, the plot is not specifically linked to the festive period and Anne-Marie Casey’s adaptation omits one of the well-known scenes in which a charitable Christmas gesture is rewarded by an unexpected windfall. But the combination of sentiment and melodrama with a relentlessly positive outlook ensures the play suits the season.
Anne-Marie Casey avoids the irritating approach of judging period events by contemporary standards. As a result, although the limited options open to women in 19th century America are presented starkly, they are criticised from the viewpoint of characters living in the period, in a desperate situation and trying to make the best of their lives.
In New England during the American Civil War, the March family live in genteel poverty. Matriarch Abigail ‘Marmee’ March (Kacey Ainsworth) and her four daughters face a Christmas without their father, who is serving as an army Chaplain. The daughters have distinct personalities, but their opinions are shaped by what was expected of women in the period when the book was written, and marriage and domesticity were the principal options.
But ‘Jo’ March (Rachael McAllister serving as avatar for author Louisa May Alcott who took inspiration for the story from her own family) dares to hope she might be able to earn a living by way of writing. Her sisters are more conventional in outlook. Meg March (Jessica Brydges) the oldest and most attractive sister, has the greatest chance of making a match and is willing, even eager to conform to society’s expectations. Beth March (Meg Chaplin) is sensitive, prefers to remain close to home and, ominously, expresses no career or marriage ambitions. Amy March (Julia Brown), being the youngest child, is the most indulged and potentially self-centred. Typical of the positive viewpoint of the play, the siblings hope that by securing their individual futures, they will also be able to support other family members.
Director Brigid Lamour opens the play imaginatively, setting the scene in an unexpected manner—the sounds of war which echo around the theatre, letting the audience know events take place in a time of conflict, turn out to be conjured up as part of Jo’s writing. Lamour makes strengths of potential weaknesses: Aunt March could easily become a narrative device with expository dialogue, but Susan Twist brings a sense of gleeful relish to her predictions of doom.
The Marsh family are enduring financial hardship, which is reflected in Ruari Murchison’s bleak set: a series of bare, lifeless trees. However, as the basic set is supplemented by few props—a pair of bookcases and a Christmas tree—the effect is not so much stark as skimpy, a dull setting for a festive show. The disappointing staging contributes to an understated atmosphere, the ending to act one is decidedly under-powered, almost anticlimactic, which limits the emotional impact of the play.
Director Lamour does not set a dour mood, finding humour at unexpected points. When Marmee encourages the sisters to donate their Christmas dinner to a more needy family, Amy is clearly visible scoffing as much as possible before reluctantly complying. The adaptation trims the original text to make for a reasonable running time, but inevitably results in an episodic play, a selection of events from the novel rather than a smooth narrative.
Rachael McAllister is a splendid heroine (and—with two fingers in a splint—may have indulged in method acting for her tomboy character). McAllister demonstrates the courage it took for women in the period to stand out from the norm, daring to alienate potential allies or suitors with her opinions. Crucially, whilst Jo disagrees with the attitude of her sisters, she does not judge them but rather wider society which limits their choices.
Little Women remains an old-fashioned festive entertainment, offering spiritual hymns instead of rowdy singalongs and complex arguments rather than simple feelgood storylines, but is a highly respectful interpretation of a classic tale.