Review: Sock 'n' Buskin's LITTLE WOMEN at the Kailash Mital Theatre
Fans of classic literature and dialogue‑driven theatre will appreciate this heartfelt tribute to the timeless story.
Photo by Megan Brooks.
To complement the unseasonably cold and snowy Ottawa weather, Sock ‘n’ Buskin Theatre presents Little Women, adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel by Marisha Chamberlain, and directed here by Smridhi Malhotra. For those who have never read the book or seen a movie adaptation, Little Women is the coming‑of‑age story of the four March sisters, Jo (Grace Emerson), Meg (Erin Chappel), Beth (Alexandra Kane), and Amy (Talia Daigle), with the events of the story taking place between two Christmases. Despite the late Victorian setting, there is not much different about the March sisters than siblings today: they play together, quarrel, mock each other, and trade intimate secrets.
One of the most striking elements of Sock ‘n’ Buskin’s Little Women is its set design (Allison Cook and Kimia Taherion). For a theatre company with limited resources, the creative team has created an impressively detailed environment: layered interiors including Jo’s upstairs study, a period‑appropriate settee and decor, and other small details that help recreate the feeling of a modest, but loving household. At times, the richness of the set almost threatens to overshadow the actors on stage, but the lighting design (Anneli Sheridan and Haileigh Simpson) is generally successful at keeping the audience’s attention focused where it needs to be, despite a couple of missed cues. Warm lighting reinforces the cozy interiors, and the gradual shifting of lighting to a cool blue hue is effective at signalling the change in atmosphere during a scene marked by grief.
Photo by Megan Brooks.
The show’s scene transitions don’t always quite match the polished nature of the set. More than a couple of scene changes feel abrupt, choppy, or under‑rehearsed, and others are overly lengthy. Poor transitions stand out perhaps even more because the staging is so meticulously constructed. The final scene of the play attempts to serve as an epilogue of sorts; unfortunately, it feels oddly disconnected from the tone of the rest of the show. For audience members who are unfamiliar with the source material, the ending scene may, in fact, be more confusing than it is educational.
The entire cast brings their enthusiasm to the stage, though the acting is somewhat uneven, at times veering dangerously towards exaggeration before being reigned in, especially in the first half of the show. When the cast performs with a more natural and grounded rhythm, the tenderness and subtleties of the character relationships come to the forefront of the production. Vocal projection seems to be a struggle for some of the cast throughout the show; I found myself involuntarily leaning forward to try to hear better multiple times, especially in scenes where the action was towards the back of the stage.
The main cast does a wonderful job of bringing the March sisters to life and Bo Doyle is extremely convincing as Laurie, winning the hearts of audiences who fervently want to see Jo and Laurie live happily ever after. Daigle’s performance as the youngest March daughter, Amy, captures her vivacious, but spoiled personality, even if the script doesn’t quite convey her eventual maturity and growth. Emerson’s Joe is free-thinking, rebellious, ambitious and intellectual; one might say that she is a precurser to the modern day feminist. Beth is subdued, sweet and fragile, portrayed by Kane in exactly the way I always envision the character. As the eldest sister, Chappel’s Meg becomes the mother figure during Marmee’s (Sheila Burpee Duncan) absence, and she must act as mediator, putting her own secret desires on hold. Secondary cast performances are also good, with special praise given to Danny Gordon-Boyd and Sam Tinajero-Alvarado for their solid performances as Mr. Brooke and Aunt March, respectively.
Sock ‘n’ Buskin’s Little Women is not without its flaws, but it is an earnest production buoyed by a cast that grows more confident as the play unfolds, making the audience feel genuine affection for the characters and invested in the outcome of the story. Fans of classic literature and dialogue‑driven theatre will appreciate Little Women, as Sock ‘n’ Buskin give a heartfelt tribute to this timeless story. Little Women is on stage through March 22 at the Kailash Mital Theatre on Carleton University’s campus; get tickets at the link below.
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