(Cover Photo: The CAST of Kate Hamill's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "LITTLE WOMEN" presented by Actor's Shakespeare Project at Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA. now playing through March 8, 2026. Photo Credit: Benjamin Rose Photography)

By Kevin T. Baldwin

METRMAG Reviewer

# 774-242-6724

“I must chase my inspiration in the morning before Aunt March breaks my spirit.”

                                                                                               - ("Jo") / Kate Hamill,  Louisa May Alcott

Actors' Shakespeare Project

Presents Kate Hamill's Adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's

"LITTLE WOMEN"

The tale of growing up that you grew up with, told for a new generation.

Written by Louisa May Alcott

Adapted by Kate Hamill

Directed by Shana Gozansky 

Cast Includes: Sarah Newhouse* as “Marmee/Aunt March,” Olivia Fenton as “Meg,” Aislinn Brophy* as “Jo,” Kaila Penton-Flavin as “Beth,” Chloe McFarlane as “Amy,” Jonah Barricklo as “Laurie,” Chris Stahl* as “Mr. Brooks/Parrot/Mr. Dashwood.” Patrick Vincent Curran as “Mr. Laurence/Robert March,” Amy Griffin* as “Hannah/Mrs. Mingott.”

Additional Creative Team: 

Scenic Designer - Jenna MacFarland Lord; Costume Designer - Zoe Sundra; Lighting Designer - Deb Sullivan; Sound Designer - Julian Crocamo; Resident Intimacy Director - Liv Dumaine; Stage Manager - Dominique D. Burford*; Assistant Stage Manager - Jake Mariño*.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States 

Performances:

February 12, 2026 through March 8, 2026

(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)

Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA. 02472  

TICKETS:

Memberships are available. 

For tickets and more information, call # 617-241-2200 or visit www.ActorsShakespeareProject.org 

BUY TICKETS

COVID-19 PROTOCOLS

Please consult directly with venue for latest COVID-19 and any other health and safety protocols.

(Warning: The following review contains spoilers)

Actor's Shakespeare Project (ASP) presents a faithful new look at the immortal tale of "LITTLE WOMEN" with a play that attempts to bring a new perspective on the text, achieving mixed results. 

The scaffolded multilevel set used for the two-act play impresses, allowing for the staging by ASP director Shana Gozansky to move seamlessly from moment to moment, thus keeping the pacing fluid. 

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.” 

Usually, the main focus of these adaptations have targeted the aspiring writer Jo March (Aislinn Brophy) who presumably represents Alcott herself. 

Brophy does a terrific job depicting the turbulent Jo, who rebels against all cultural standards and defined gender roles of the day. 

Jo asserts to one day be a great autonomous thinker and writer, but is seemingly is far too dependent upon her sisters and unwilling to move beyond life within their Concord, Massachusetts home to truly become either. 

There are some crucial moments in the Hamill "LITTLE WOMEN" script where Jo is seen facing adversity, balking at societal constraints while facing aggressive misogyny from publishers of the day, and Brophy excels in those moments on stage. 

(Photo: Aislinn Brophy as “Jo” in a scene from Kate Hamill's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "LITTLE WOMEN" presented by Actor's Shakespeare Project at Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA. now playing through March 8, 2026. Photo Credit: Benjamin Rose Photography)

But, while Jo still dominates much of the Hamill adaptation, much of the play’s point of view instead comes from the character of Beth (Kaila Pelton-Flavin).

Pelton-Flavin is simply outstanding as the optimistic Beth who may seem naive at times, but instead finds herself often playing peacemaker between Jo and her other sisters, Meg (Olivia Fenton) and Amy (Chloe McFarlane). 

When the sisters’ mother, Marmee (Sarah Newhouse), must leave the home to visit her battle-injured husband, it is Beth who holds the family together in Marmee's absence by being its conscience, even in the face of her own great illness. 

It is a marvelous performance, although there are times in the otherwise-outstanding staging by Shana Gozansky where Beth’s (spoiler alert) terminal illness is overemphasized and looks more like epileptic seizures rather than the residual effects of scarlet fever. 

As oldest sister Meg, Olivia Fenton is fun to watch as she presents the romantic side of Meg, who moves away from immaturity as she quickly falls in love with Mr. Brooks (Chris Stahl), a tutor for young wealthy neighbor Laurie Laurence (Jonah Barricklo). 

What we witness in Meg is the “blossoming” of the character, transitioning from child to parent as Meg soon becomes a mother herself and her outlook, her perspective and her direction all change. 

(Photo: The CAST of Kate Hamill's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "LITTLE WOMEN" presented by Actor's Shakespeare Project at Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA. now playing through March 8, 2026. Photo Credit: Benjamin Rose Photography)

Both Stahl as Brooks and Barricklo as Laurie provide fine portrayals of the closest male allies to the March sisters, with Stahl also taking on roles of an irritating bird and an equally irritating publisher. 

Another earnest performance comes from Chloe McFarlane as youngest March sister Amy, a true “brat” – unfortunately, unlike in other adaptations, in the Hamill script the Amy character does not evolve much beyond her immature, spoiled upbringing as she continually seeks a more culturally refined, affluent life and will stop at nothing to obtain it. 

Newhouse is pleasing as the supportive and strong-willed matriarch Marmee but, unfortunately, as written the character is not really on stage enough to make her have a more prominent impact in the overall story. 

Newhouse also performs double duty portraying the girl’s uniformly affluent and sour Aunt March to provide a lighter comedic moment in the story. 

(Photo: Sarah Newhouse as “Marmee,” Aislinn Brophy as “Jo” and Kaila Penton-Flavin as “Beth” in a scene from Kate Hamill's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "LITTLE WOMEN" presented by Actor's Shakespeare Project at Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA. now playing through March 8, 2026. Photo Credit: Benjamin Rose Photography)

Other versatile performances come from Patrick Vincent Curran as Laurie’s irascible grandfather Mr. Laurence, doubling as the March sisters’ father (with practically no dialogue); and Amy Griffin as the girl’s beloved housekeeper Hannah, doubling as Mrs. Mingott, a wealthy societal matchmaker trying to find eligible men for the sisters. 

While remaining faithful to the source material, instead of leaning into demurer nature, these "LITTLE WOMEN" are anything but “little” – they are larger than life with big ideas and aspirations. 

They are intelligent, assertive, compassionate, combative at times, all the while demanding to live life on their own terms. 

Above all, they are human.

(Photo: The CAST of Kate Hamill's adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's "LITTLE WOMEN" presented by Actor's Shakespeare Project at Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA. now playing through March 8, 2026. Photo Credit: Benjamin Rose Photography)

Journey back in time as "LITTLE WOMEN" continues from Actor's Shakespeare Project at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA. until March 8th, 2026. 

Coming up next at ASP will be August Wilson's "GEM OF THE OCEAN" beginning April 16th and running through May 17th, 2026 at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury, MA.

For tickets and more information, call # 617-241-2200 or visit www.ActorsShakespeareProject.org 

BUY TICKETS

Approximately two hours, 20 minutes with one intermission.

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)

@MetrmagReviews

@Theatre_Critics

ABOUT THE SHOW

The tale of growing up that you grew up with, told for a new generation.

Join the March family around the hearth as ASP explores one of the most beloved texts in American literature, in a bold new adaptation by Kate Hamill ("Emma," "The Odyssey," "Pride & Prejudice"). 

In the Victorian-era idylls of Concord, Jo March is anything but your classic Victorian heroine. 

Ambitious and headstrong, her dreams of being a novelist press against the starchy boundaries of societal expectations. 

But while her country comes of age as the Civil War rages, Jo and her sisters must also come of age – negotiating gender roles, politics, and romance as they define womanhood on their own terms. 

Filled with laughter, love, heaps of New England charm, and sharp social commentary, Hamill’s adaptation celebrates the Louisa May Alcott novel’s spirit while boldly reclaiming it for today’s world. 

This clever and empowering production of "LITTLE WOMEN" is perfect for all ages.

ABOUT THE ACTORS' SHAKESPEARE PROJECT

ACTORS' SHAKESPEARE PROJECT(ASP), founded in 2004, is an award­-winning professional theater company with a Resident Acting Company and extensive education, youth, and community programs. ASP performs and works in found spaces, schools, theaters and neighborhoods to present and explore the robust language, resonant stories, and deeply human characters in Shakespeare’s plays and in works by other great playwrights. Work is ensemble-­based and focused on intimacy, storytelling, language, relationships, voice, risk and artistry within and throughout the Boston area. MISSON ACTORS' SHAKESPEARE PROJECT believes Shakespeare’s words are urgently relevant to our times. Working as an ensemble of resident company members, ASP brings these words into the voices, bodies, and imaginations of actors, audiences, and neighborhoods. ASP does this through creative projects, including intimate productions and outreach programs that are informed by the spaces in which they happen. These projects inspire civic dialogue, build relationships between people, strengthen communities, and reveal something about what it means to be human here and now. 

ACTORS' SHAKESPEARE PROJECT

442 Bunker Hill Street

Charlestown, MA. 02129

# 617-241-2200

actorsshakespeareproject.org