Little Women: Musical Reproduction

Little Women is a musical based on a novel by an American author named Louisa May Alcott. The novel follows the lives of four sisters- Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March and it is loosely based on the author’s own childhood experiences with her sisters. The musical is a production by the Repertory Philippines, which is directed by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, who has been an actress for Repertory Philippines for more than 15 years. Lauchengco-Yulo describes the play as, “ a beautiful story based on one of the most heart warming stories ever written.” Little Women is set in the Alcott family home during the 1800’s in Concord, Massachusetts. It is about four sisters growing up during the American Civil War- a time when the idea of women’s rights was still new. I saw the play on December 10, 2010 in the OnStage theatre, Makati city, Philippines.

The theatre used to be a cinema, which was converted only a few years ago. The stage is around 10 metres long and 6 metres high, which makes it a fairly small set. The colours usually stay on the neutral side, from white, brown, grey and navy blue. I think the set designers decided to use these colours to give the set a vintage, 1800’s feel. The scene changes are simple, usually only using black outs and spotlights to take the focus away from props, actors and actresses coming in the background. I think this was done effectively because the scene changes happened quickly and the movement in the background wasn’t noticeable. The only major changes on the set from scene to scene would be the props. Some props, such as the windows, drew down from the ceiling. One significant prop from the musical was this vintage looking couch that was used in many scenes. For example, in the beginning of the play, the m...

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... to start thinking of other people beside herself.

The weakest part of the production for me was when Laurie confesses his love for Jo. Not only was it too exaggerated; it was awkward in a bad way. Laurie was trying too hard to get Jo to like him back that it didn’t feel realistic anymore. Jo just turned away from Laurie without acknowledging anything he was saying. I do understand why Jo wouldn’t like Laurie back but they have a really close relationship and she is being unreasonable. I think the scene could have been executed better if Jo was kinder to Laurie and at least acknowledge how hard it was for him to admit his feelings.

In conclusion, although there was an impressive amount of attention to detail in the production, most of the acting was too exaggerated and the scenes dragged on for too long to the point where I found myself almost falling asleep.