Playhouse in the Park: Little Women Gets a Big New Adaptation
Illustration by Kenton Brett
There’s no denying the fame of Louisa May Alcott’s story, Little Women, and how big a classic it has become in modern culture. The March sisters are just as iconic as Mr. Darcy, Tom Sawyer, and other literary characters of the 1800s, even scoring a recent movie remake in 2019 that featured famous names like Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and Timothee Chalamet. Each retelling seems to get even better, and the latest adaptation is a collaboration between Oregon’s Portland Center Stage and our own Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
Called Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, Lauren Gunderson’s transformed story shines a spotlight on the beloved author and her experience writing the classic. Director Joanie Schultz explains. “This production has a frame around it, where we meet Louisa at the time that she’s given the assignment to write this book about girls, and she’s contemplating how to do it, because in the 1800s, women were given very little license to do anything.
“Young women, especially, were not necessarily taught to be independent thinkers or to really trust in their own values and pursue that over finding a place in society and a husband. So, she used examples from her own life.”
Schultz refers to the fact that Alcott’s family was more progressive than most. Her father, Amos Bronson Alcott, was an influential member of the transcendentalist group, alongside Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Anderson. Members favored the values of the individual soul, being true to oneself, and communing with nature. Amos himself also advocated for women’s rights and abolitionism, and this is reflected immensely in his daughter’s works.
Drawing on her own educated upbringing, Alcott wrote fictionalized versions of herself as Jo and her sisters. “That’s why the March sisters are always trying to explore and learn new things, putting great effort into languages and literature,” says Schultz. “This is also why we see all of her sisters really growing up and making these very strong choices about who they are.”
Because the production is a collaboration between Portland Center Stage and Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park, casting was determined evenly, with three actors from Portland, three from Cincinnati, and one from Kansas City. Two sides of the same coin, playing both Jo and Louisa May Alcott, is Cincinnati-based performer Beasley.
“They are just such an incredible Jo,” Schultz remarks. “In the book, Jo just has this feeling of not fitting into the feminine stereotype and perceiving that she’s different. Beasley is a non-binary actor who I think really inhabits that and has this real natural charm. You fall in love with this Joe.”
The cast also features two more Cincinnati-based actors: Kieran Conan, who plays a multitude of characters (John, Mr. Laurence, Mr. March, and Friedrich), and Connan Morrissey, who performs as both Marmee and Aunt Marge. From Portland, the production features Hannah Fawcett as Meg, Sammy Rat Rios as Amy, and Rocco Weyer as Laurie. Lastly, Brianna Woods, who plays Beth, is from Kansas City.
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women is running now through February 15th. To find more information and showings, as well as buy tickets, visit the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park website.
