The Rep’s current offering is a splendid production of “Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.” The appearance of the novelist’s name in the title is significant because she appears in the play, too.
In the opening of Lauren Gunderson’s stage adaptation, Louisa introduces the members of her own family on whom she based the fictional March family. The play’s action comes to life as Louisa is writing her novel about four sisters who come of age in the Civil War era. While continuing as a narrator, she assumes the additional role of Jo, her alter ego in the novel.
Louisa is not the only narrator. Actors in other parts occasionally speak directly to the audience about what their characters do and feel. These metatheatrical excursions are welcome in an adaptation of “Little Women” because the narrator’s voice is such an important part of the novel. Also, strategically employed narration speeds up the storytelling, allowing Gunderson to include more of the novel’s events.
The mixture of drama and narration succeeds at The Rep thanks to the excellent work of the entire cast under Delaney Piggins’ sensitive, fast-paced direction. The characters’ qualities and emotions are projected with the same credibility and intensity regardless of whether they are being demonstrated or described. In alphabetical order, the performers are:
- Amira Danan as Meg
- Addison Foote as Amy
- Jack Lancaster as Laurie
- Kristen Lintvedt as Beth
- Andrea San Miguel as Louisa and Jo
- Marcia Pizzo as Marmee and Aunt March
- Adam Poss as John Brooke, Friedrich Bhaer, and Mr. March
Ann Beyersdorfer based her clever scenic design on realistic elements that are not forced to be part a realistic whole (see photo). The resulting flexibility enables the action to move fluidly among interior and exterior settings under Paige Sebert’s alert lighting. The staging of the scene on an icy river is remarkable.
Kotryna Hilko’s costumes and Will Vicari’s wigs set the action firmly in its period. The play’s sound world is established by Amanda Werre’s sound, Kristen Lintvedt’s music supervisor, and Lauren Roth’s dialect coaching. Movement is admirably managed by choreographer Sam Gaitsch, fight director Paul Steger, and intimacy director Frankie Ferrari.
“Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women” continues through September 27 at the Loretto-Hilton Center, 130 Edgar Road.
—Gerry Kowarsky
Photo by Jon Gitchoff
The March family celebrating Christmas in “Little Women”:
Standing: Andrea San Miguel as Jo
Sitting from the left: Amira Danan as Meg, Marcia Pizzo as Marm, and Addison Foote as Amy
Kneeling: Kristen Lintvedt as Beth
