At the Theater

Louise May Alcott wrote “Little Women” in 1869, in response to her publisher’s request that she write a novel that would appeal to girls. Alcott balked: she herself had been something of a tomboy, and she said she preferred boys. Nevertheless, the finished work was an immediate success. The story follows the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—and details their passage from childhood to womanhood. It is loosely based on the life of Alcott and her three beloved sisters. In it, Alcott expresses her own temperament through the character of Jo March.

The story has been adapted seven times now. The most recent version plays this weekend at the Liberty. Laura Dern – who just won an Academy Award for supporting actress in “A Marriage Story”- stars as Marmee, the girls’ mother. Meryl Streep – won of the best actors of our time – takes the role of Great-Aunt March.

The role of Jo March in this latest version is played by the Irish-American actress Saoirse (Sur-sha) Ronan, an Irish-American actress who happens to be one of the youngest to receive several Oscar nominations before the age of 24. She is accompanied by Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Eliza Scanlen in the roles of Meg, Amy and Beth March, respectively.

Apart from being a popular and unique coming-of-age story across generations, this seventh film adaptation - like the original story - has become an immediate critical and popular success.

Rated PG with a rather long run time of two hours and fifteen minutes, “Little Women” plays February 15-18. Note the film will be pre-empted for a Friday showing by our annual Reader’s Theater presentation on Valentine’s Day, February 14. For more information visit http://www.libertytheater.org.