A Stripped-Down 'Little Women' at Dobama Theatre Isn't Just for the Girls

Credit: Photo Credit: Steve Wagner Photography

How do you feel about “Little Women”? You know the one. Louisa May Alcott’s classic story of the four March sisters who in 19th century Massachusetts deal with their poverty by showing pluck and imagination as they search for ways to grow up and express who they really are?

If you’re a girl or a woman, chances are you find LW—the novel and its subsequent adaptations in film and on stage—charming, inspiring and totally immersive. But if you’re a boy or man, you probably have avoided this work like the latest smarmy Lifetime channel romance, considering it a “chick flick/play/book” for the ages.

Well, the latest iteration now at Dobama Theatre—Little Women as adapted by Heather Chrisler—lights up the stage with four characterizations of Jo, Meg, Amy and Beth that are so sharp you could use them to field dress a musk ox.

The four-person cast under the smooth, witty direction of Melissa T. Crum knocks the dust off this oft-told yarn thanks in large part to the stripped-down script. In this version, you are entranced by Laura Tarantowski’s evocative scenic design, but there’s no exposition about who is who. The play just explodes as we find the four girls play-acting in their attic. Within a couple minutes, we get a sense of who each of the girls are and the story is off to the races.

The character who grabs you first is Jo, played with manic, barely controlled energy by Theo Allyn. She is a wannabe writer (an unlikely goal for a female in America at that time), a tomboy and a fully-formed rebel who strains against the boundaries imposed on her gender. Allyn enlivens virtually every line she delivers, and that includes the times when she is just quiet and reflective. As anyone knows who has read or seen Little Women, Jo is the pivot point for the others, and Allyn handles the assignment with skill.

Along the way, we learn that their father is away at the war and later that he has been injured, so their mother “Marmee” has gone there to be with him. This leaves the girls to fend for themselves.

Jo’s opposite is bashful Beth who is easily frightened when they act out scenes involving scary witches and pirates. Natalie Green is ideal as cowering Beth and also in her other role as Laurie (short for Mr. Lawrence), a man who is intent on romancing Jo, who couldn’t be less interested. Green never overdoes Laurie by strutting and posturing, she instead captures a relaxed, confident masculinity that feels natural.

As time passes and the girls grow up, their maturation isn’t laboriously notched at every juncture. Chrisler’s deft adaptation assumes you will figure it out, since all of you have already grown up and know how that goes.

The youngest sister is Amy, who is a budding visual artist with a temper. As a young girl she gets mad at Jo and burns the book Jo has been writing so she can share it with their parents when they return. Jo is terribly hurt but soon forgives Amy because, as she notes, family is more important. Amy winds up in Paris as a failed artist (at least in her eyes) and Amaya Kiyomi tracks her journey with flashes or anger and humor. Kiyomi also doubles as John, Meg’s hopeful lover.

Overall, the storytelling is enhanced by Chrisler’s (and Crum’s) imaginative use of whimsical objects to represent other things, such as books laid on the floor as stepping stones in a stream and balloons to stand in for Amy’s paintings. This maintains the childlike charm of the sister’s initial storytelling even as conflicts and tragedies ensue.

As the oldest sister Meg, Mariah Burks is warm and brilliant as she offers a nurturing and comforting presence for her sisters. And she has the funniest bit in the show when she battles a recipe for currant jam as a newbie wife, overwhelmed by all the pots (hula hoops, in this telling). Her doubled role as Professor Bhaer is given short shrift in the script.

There are a couple soft spots in the show, including the too-pat resolution of Jo and Amy’s conflict over the burnt book. Also, the decision to insert an intermission feels intrusive as it interrupts the wonderful momentum the actors create as they explore the threshold of adulthood.

This Little Women is a feast of storytelling, funny throughout and sentimental in the right places without tipping over into anything maudlin or forced. In short, it’s no “chick play.” Ms. Alcott once said in a letter, “I was born with a boy’s nature and always had more sympathy for and interest in them than in girls.” One imagines she would be delighted with this Jo, this foursome, and this rich production at Dobama.

Little Women
Through December 31 at Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-932-3396, dobama.org.

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