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Honeysuckle Weeks as Marmee, Imogen Elliott as
Amy, Jade Kennedy as Meg, Catherine Chalk as Beth and Grace Molony as Jo
March. Pictures: Nobby Clark Little Women Malvern Theatres **** Little Women transports us back into a very different world and culture from our own contemporary one. Based on Louisa Alcott’s novel, with its clear autobiographical elements, this stage adaptation is a wonderfully sensitive realisation of the lives of the March family during the Civil War in the USA in the middle of the 19th Century. Father, a Christian preacher in his town, is called away as an army chaplain with the fighting men, leaving Marmee March to raise her four teenage daughters with the intermittent and trenchant advice of Aunt March. The girls, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are all strongly delineated characters who are, typically, emotionally close and yet argumentative, each differentiated and discovering their distinctive characters and way into the adult world. Although this is a family steeped in Christian culture, with their celebration of Christmas and sacrificial charity towards the poor, there is a questioning of received ideas, and Jo in particular challenges the conventions in a variety of ways. She wishes she was a boy, she resists the idea of marriage and the accepted roles of women in society. She wants to be a writer and is looking to find her distinctive voice, instead of writing “this rubbish because it sells……..I wish I didn’t have a conscience, it’s so inconvenient!” In so many respects she is the voice of the author. The story avoids the risk of being a merely romantic love story; it bears many echoes of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice; it embraces a range of emotional experiences. There is sadness and loss, joy and new life, conflict and humour. The uncomplicated but sensitively designed set, the lighting, the costumes and the sound effects all contribute unobtrusively to the action of the play which focuses on the characters and their relationships, their conflicts and challenges. Thematically we explore the family and marriage, writing and the values and authenticity of the author, charity and poverty, and the opportunities for women to contribute in society beyond their role in the family.
Grace Molony as Jo and Belinda Lang as Aunt March Loveday Ingram directs this sensitive adaptation by Anne-Marie Casey with skill and excellent pace and variety of tempo. The strong cast provide excellent characterisations and the script avoids any ‘cheesy’ romanticism. The singing of the girls together in harmonies is a particularly delightful element in the production; some of the movement and tableaux created during the performance are likewise subtle and pleasing. Grace Moloney plays the key figure of Jo March around whom the play pivots. She has a lively energy and combative character. Her anger at her younger sister Amy’s destructive action is powerful and convincing; it evokes great motherly wisdom and counsel from Marmee, excellently and calmly portrayed by Honeysuckle Weeks. Grace conveys Jo’s conflicted struggle over her femininity very well. Imogen Elliott develops the character of Amy convincingly, from young teenager to contented woman, Catherine Chalk (Beth) is very moving in the painful climax of her life, Jade Kennedy as Meg follows well the more traditional path to adulthood, marriage and motherhood. Belinda Lang plays the part of Aunt March, who dictates authoritatively whenever she appears. Her accent varies a little but she is very forceful and amusing as the character in the tradition of Austen’s Lady Catherine de Burgh. Cillian Lenaghan shows the heartbreak of being rejected by Jo in strong contrast to his earlier gallantry and his ultimate dignity. Jack Ashton doubles as both John Brooke and Professor Bhaer; his portrayal as the German academic who falls in love is strong. This is a delightful and tasteful production, full of human realism and well-paced. It runs at Malvern till Saturday 19th April. Tim Crow 15-04-25 |
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