Little Women Reviews

The Boston Globe - Highly Recommended

"...Kate Hamill's adaptation of "Little Women" has infectious fun playing with these ideas, without muddying the spirit of the original work. The new Actors' Shakespeare Project production finds wit in sad places and melancholy in hopeful ones. It gives us a Jo, played by Aislinn Brophy, who would much rather write than even think about getting married - not because she hasn't met the right man, as she eventually does in the novel, but because marriage holds no interest to her. Also important in this regard is what this "Little Women" doesn't give us: Friedrich Bhaer, the German scholar who nudges Jo toward more personal writing and eventually wins her heart in the novel, is not part of the play. He isn't needed. When it comes to matrimony, this Jo just says nein."

WBUR - Recommended

"...In the high-energy first act, with the cast dressed in appropriate fashions of the time by Zoe Sundra, the audience gets to know the loving family and their flaws. For instance, Jo can be selfish while Amy is petulant. There's a fleshing out of their personalities that's enjoyable to see unfold. There are also some intimate and vulnerable conversations about gender roles and expectations between Jo and the affable Laurie."

Joyce's Choices - Not Recommended

"...There’s a lot of acting from the neck up and declaiming of lines. When Marmee (poor, elegant Sarah Newhouse adrift among this gaggle) enters the scene, her daughters form an awkward tableaux around her, freezing in place as if for some invisible portrait painter. It’s hard to ferret out any relatable depth or complexity of feeling when every moment is so stiffly choreographed, every line reading hammered home, every encounter a squabble, every gesture a gesticulation. The lighting, music, and set suggest something tender and real. The ensemble which occupies that space does not."

Stage and Cinema - Not Recommended

"...But despite Jenna McFarland Lord's excellent scenic design, that allows smooth movement between multiple stories and houses, and Deb Sullivan's effective lighting, the production feels noisy and unfocused. The fault likely lies with Hamill's effort to wring comedy and pointed social commentary out of a work that already possesses those qualities, as well as her decision to try to incorporate too much story into the limitations of a two-hour-and-twenty-minute stage production."

New England Theater Mirror - Somewhat Recommended

"...Sadly, Hamill’s adaptation of Little Women lacks the wit and flair of her other works. The play preserves most of the familiar character traits of the March family with a few modern adjustments. Jo and Amy are written for Black actors. Marmee is less of a central figure in the story, allowing for the focus to be on Jo, who is quietly Queer in Hamill’s interpretation. In ASP’s production, it was difficult to discern whether Hamill had reimagined Meg to be naive and insensitive, rather than the mature, reserved character we know, or if the actor playing the role (Olivia Fenton) completely misinterpreted how Meg was written."

METR Mag - Highly Recommended

"...Published in 2021, the ASP staging of the Kate Hamill adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott novel concentrates heavily on the interpersonal relationships between four young women who each find themselves at a personal impasse in their life as the country rages, steeped in war, a war caused by its own “personal impasse.”"