Actors' Shakespeare Project delivers a Little Women that stays true to Louisa May Alcott's beloved story while adding a crisp, contemporary energy. Now playing at the Dorothy and Charles Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown through March 1, 2026, this production uses Kate Hamill's stage adaptation to spotlight what has always made the March sisters so enduring: the fierce love that holds them together, and the ache of wanting more than the world is ready to give them.

Little Women presented by Actors' Shakespeare Project

At the center is Jo March, portrayed here as all spark and stubborn imagination-someone who would rather write, dream, and push at the edges of what's "proper" than step neatly into the life that's expected of her. Hamill's version leans into that tension with a modern clarity, letting Jo's resistance to the era's narrow options feel immediate and specific, not like a distant literary artifact. Reviewers especially responded to how the adaptation plays with the story's big questions-what freedom could look like for Jo, what she owes to her family, and what she's allowed to want-without losing the warmth that makes Little Women feel like home.

Under Shana Gozansky's direction, the evening keeps a lively pace and gets a lot of emotional mileage out of the March family dynamic-characters ricocheting off one another in scenes that can turn from funny to tender in a heartbeat. The ensemble work has been singled out as a major strength, with the sisters' personalities sharply drawn and genuinely enjoyable to watch unfold, from Jo's restless intensity to Amy's dramatic flair and Meg's grounded yearning. The production also makes room for intimate, direct conversations about gender roles and expectations, helping the story's coming-of-age themes land with added bite.

Visually, the world onstage supports the sense of a bustling household full of memory and motion: a cozy March home rendered with inviting detail, color, and warmth, giving the actors a space that feels lived-in rather than simply "period." That design approach helps the show's emotional stakes feel close-up-like you're peeking into a family's private victories and heartbreaks, not observing a museum piece.

For audiences who think they already know every beat of Little Women, this is the kind of staging that reminds you why the story keeps returning-not only for its comfort, but for its still-relevant frustration with the limits placed on ambitious, free-spirited young women. And for anyone who simply wants a moving, smartly acted night at the theater, ASP's Little Women offers plenty to love, right up to its final moments.