Little Women

Tonight, I had the pleasure of returning to The Brindley Theatre to see Centenary Theatre Company’s production of Little Women.  Little Women is a synonymous play and is well known throughout the world.  Originally written by Louisa May Alcott, with this version adapted by Emma Reeves, the play tells the story of the March sisters from their teenage years; through their transition into adulthood.  Each sister has their own self identity and their own journey, and this play allows the themes of social class and feminism to be explored.  Themes which are (unfortunately) still relevant today.

The director for this production was Dan Grimes (assisted by Rebecca Gray).  Dan is an accomplished director with great ideas and vision.  What I loved about this production was that Dan allowed each actor to explore the themes of the play and make them relevant.  This was apparent in the performances of the main cast.  The play constantly changes location and time, particularly between the first and second act.  Having a purpose-built set with no scene changes, this was problematic for continuity and space.  I have no doubt that most of the audience did not mind that the cast were using the same space for various locations, however, I personally thought that some of the staging distracted from the continuity and there might have been other ways in which to explore time and location.  Whilst most of the cast played their role with sincerity and truth, I personally thought that the directorial decision to allow the character of Sallie Gardiner to use a ‘voice’ which made her character more of a caricature was a wrong decision.  Despite this, the audience loved Sally (Played by Louisa Herridge) and she brought some well received comedic moments to the overall piece.  For me, some of the staging was a bit too far back from the audience and, at times, some of the cast were in darkness too much, for too long, as the pool of light wasn’t wide enough to capture all of the actors.  I know that there probably isn’t a good way of producing an ice-skating scene on a wooden stage, but I felt a little uneasy watching that scene tonight.  The pace of the whole piece was good, and I appreciated the fact that there were no scene changes due to the clever decision to have actors come into position at the end of each previous scene.

The director(s) set this version of Little Women in its authentic time-period.  The costumes (supplied by The Boyz) and wigs, looked brilliant, and each character had their own individuality.  I particularly loved the costumes for the male characters, although one actor wore contemporary socks underneath.  The costumes, wigs and make-up helped the audience become engrossed in the action a lot quicker, as the language can be quite hard to get used to at the beginning of the play. 

As I mentioned in the director’s section above, I felt that too many actors were standing in darkness for too long.  The pools of light were not wide enough and there were times when actors were creating shadows on the faces of other actors due to the positioning of the lights.  I loved the use of the coloured gels in Act 2.  It wasn’t in keeping with the authenticity of the time period, but I appreciated that it was a pleasing contrast and reflected the bright lights of bustling Europe. 

Liam Kent was in charge of Sound Design.  I felt that at the beginning of the play, the sound levels were hard to get used to.  As none of the actors wore head mics, it was a little while before the echo of the stage mics settled down and I got used to relying on the actors’ projection. 

The main cast of March women were made up of Robyn Murphy (Jo), Ria Hall (Meg), Rachael Benfield (Beth) and Maria Ames (Amy).  Each actress worked well to have their own individuality and I appreciated all of the nuances that each actress gave to their role.  Ria was vocally brilliant.  I could hear every syllable and had great projection.  I personally would’ve preferred a little more sternness and balls to her Governess role, but this didn’t distract from the great role she played.  Maria was superb as the role of the spoilt and self-centred Amy.  Maria brought the right amount of wit, reactions and truth to her character without her being over the top and attention seeking.  Rachael played the role of Beth very well.  She made the audience empathise with her character, so when she died, we were moved.  I didn’t quite get Beth as much as I did the other three and until I heard the characters say it, thought that Beth was the youngest sister.  Robyn played the role of Jo brilliantly.  She held her own as the formidable sister and was brilliantly cast.  Robyn was very good vocally and I loved the physicality of her character choices (The arm folding and the general gait).  Well done Robyn! 

Sara Worton and Marilyn Baxter played the roles of Mrs March and Aunt March respectively.  Sara had a great rapport with the March sisters and held her own, although I struggled to work out if her accent was supposed to be different to that of her daughters.  Marilyn was a good contrast to the rest of the women onstage and I liked the high-brow elements that she brought to Aunt March.

Kit Phillips and Westley Clarke played the roles of Laurie Laurence and Fred Vaughn.  Kit played the role of Laurie with the right amount of sincerity, truth and charm to the role.  Westley played Fred as a bit of a toff and a bumbling idiot.  This allowed for some well received light heartedness to the overall piece.   Both Kit and Westley had great projection and stage presence.

Joseph Novoa Libermann played the role of John Brooke.  Making his stage debut, Joseph did well vocally, and I liked his physicality - he looked great as the soldier. 

Louisa Herridge played the role of Sallie Gardiner.  Whilst I didn’t like the directorial choice of the voice of Sallie, I felt that Louisa brought a great energy to the stage which helped the pace of the overall piece.

 

Other roles were played by Julia Hart (Aunt Carol), Mike Nolan (Professor Bhaer), Nathan Reid (Ned Moffat), and Hayley Northey (Belle Moffat).  Because most of the action centres around the main four March sisters, each time one of these actors came on stage, it was a nice respite.  Each one came with their own fresh energy and this was appreciated by me.  All of these actors had great projection and told their story well. 

Overall, I enjoyed the play.  I didn’t leave with any great affliction to want to be in, or direct, any future productions.  I appreciate that its an old play and could be a hard slog to produce, it does still have contemporary themes which are still relevant in today’s society.  Whilst I didn’t quite agree to some of the staging and technical elements, this did not distract from the enjoyment for the rest of the audience.  I appreciated the hard work that has gone into characterisation and vocality.

Thank you once again to Centenary Theatre Company for your kind hospitality and I look forward to returning in a few weeks’ time to get my groove on to The Wedding Singer!

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