Originally written by Louise May Alcott, and adapted to Marian’s stage by Thomas Hischak, the theater cast did the original Little Women novel justice. As April 11 was opening night, friends and family of the cast were finding their seats in the theater long before the 7:30 p.m. show time. The air was one of surprise and delight as two of the cast members, Ella Williams (old Jo) and Grace Noble (Mrs. Kirke), walked around the auditorium in full costume while introducing themselves as their stage personas and staying in character.
The book, as well as the play, challenges gender stereotypes in many aspects—making the original novel ahead of its time in 1868. Starting with just the lead female being a wild, free, and rambunctious individual named Jo, short for Josephine, the audience is cued in on the explicit feminist motivations behind creating Jo’s character. Her counterpart, the male lead named Laurie, shares many of Jo’s quirks but yet was extremely sheltered at home for most of his life by his grandfather—ironically making the male lead more stereotypically feminine for that time period.
Everything from Bethany Worrell’s (young Jo) singed and frayed dress to her impulse of running across stage perfectly portrayed her character as the tomboyish ambitious sibling among the March family. Peter Waning (Laurie) stayed true to the original novel through his admirations and emotional declarations of love to Jo—further extenuating his more feminine traits just as Alcott intended.
The cast started working together in the beginning of the Spring semester but started really doubling down on their script work and acting three weeks prior to opening night. Taking on such a story filled with feminism, intricate storylines, and harsh realities for family dynamics would challenge any theater group. The cast of Little Women met that challenge with enthusiasm and worked as a team to make opening night a success.
“The whole cast was able to feed off of each other and together we created characters that were our own, how we personally would be if we lived as these people in the 1860s,” said Connor Matthews, junior in marketing who played Mr. March.
“I have two sisters of my own that I love with all my heart, so to get into the mindset I would think of my own siblings and imagine that it was them I was talking about,” said Ella Williams, freshman in nursing who played Old Jo, the narrator.
