Little Women – HOME, Manchester

Writer: Louisa May Alcott

Adaptor: Anne-Marie Casey

Director: Brigid Lamour

There are some classic books that make great adaptations for the stage, and Little Women is one of them. A close-up study of a family, all with their various desires, woes and worries, it’s a story packed with emotion and yet one in which nothing much happens. It’s a Civil War soap opera that reminds us of how little changes across the centuries.

Dad, having made some bad business decisions, has lost the family money and then disappeared off to be a Chaplain in the army. Mum is left at home with four teenage daughters, and like most siblings, they’re about as different as they can be. Meg (Jessica Brydges), the eldest, is the beautiful one, traditional and seeking a good marriage. Jo (Rachael McAllister) is a tomboy and aspiring writer, Beth (Meg Chaplin) is quiet, over-sensitive and kind, and Amy (Julia Brown) is an artist, determined that her talents will bring her society success. But for now they’re all just struggling along, working to bring in some cash and trying to help neighbours whose financial situations are even worse than their own.

This production is a classic, charming retelling of the novel that doesn’t seek to do anything other than celebrate the story. There’s no contemporary twist, the language is pretty much pulled straight from the novel, and, apart from a few traditional carols sung simply by the cast, there’s no music. This is currently a rare thing in theatre and proves that there’s still a lot of mileage in sticking to tradition. While initially feeling a little slow, the production settles into an episodic rhythm and gentle pace as the story unfolds, chapter by chapter.

Little Women is full of gentle humour, humanity and emotion. Rachael McAllister delivers a compelling performance as Jo, the most complex of the four March sisters, torn between family, romance and literary ambition. Alcott based the novel on her own family and the semi-autobiographical Jo demonstrates all the challenges of being a female writer in the mid 1800s. Julia Brown (Amy) transitions nicely from spoilt baby of the family to elegant woman of means, and Susan Twist puts in a performance that teeters just on the right side of pantomimic as the terrifying Aunt March who hasn’t a good word to say for any of the family.

A simple but effective set made up of sparse wooden furniture and silver birch tree trunks creates a clutter-free backdrop, made up for with traditional but striking costumes (Ruari Murchison), suggesting a family trying to make the best of their unfortunate circumstances. Kate Bonney’s dramatic lighting completes the visuals, zoning the open-plan set into cosy drawing room, glitzy dance hall, and snowy woodland.

While an all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza always makes a good Christmas theatre outing, there’s plenty of choice of those productions out there. Little Woman, a HOME co-production with Pitlochry Festival Theatre, is something different – the return of the traditional Christmas literary play, once the Mancunian theatrical domain of the Library Theatre, a bit of traditional charm, great storytelling and the perfect family show. It’s a very welcome addition to the seasonal theatrical offerings.

Runs until 23 December 2023