Little Women Richmond Theatre June 4 2025

This is a story that was a hugely successful book, one that has been filmed on a number of occasions, most recently directed by Greta Gerwig and starring Saorsie Ronan, Timothee Chalamet and Emma Watson. However, I don’t think that any other version has quite as much charm as this stage play.

It starts with the singing of a hymn by the assembled company, a motif that occurs at various times and is always a delight as the harmonies are gorgeous. They sing Christmas carols at various points in the play which was actually quite marvellous on a balmy June night. Once that has finished we are plunged straight into one of the plays that the talented and driven Jo has written for her and her sisters to perform. It’s a really inspired opening as it takes us straight onto the stage as the natural home of the action. There are four sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy, and they embody passion, romance, service and ambition respectively. Their mother, Marmee and Aunt March are the only adult influences in their lives as the play starts since their father has volunteered in the American Civil War as a chaplain. Marmee is focused on their spiritual development while Aunt March, exasperated by their resultant lack of worldliness wants to see them in good marriages. Jo is completely disinterested in marriage until a young man called Laurie moves in nearby setting in train a series of events that none of the sisters are prepared for and which will change their lives completely both for good and for bad.

The Cast

The actresses who played the four sisters were uniformly excellent and right from the start they were an absolutely convincing family unit. Having seen some of the stories and posts on Instagram this closeness is one that is both on and off stage and it rooted the whole performance in their affectionate and loving relationships with each other.

Grace Molony played Jo with vigour, humour and passion. The character can be played as something akin to a paragon, but the writing and the performance showed both the good and bad sides of her character. She is generous, open and affectionate throughout, but she can also be self centred, quick to anger and oblivious to the needs of those she cares about. The skill of Molony was in making sure that both sides were utterly consistent with the person we saw on the stage. You felt the ambition burning from the first scene as writer and central character of the sisters’ plays but that ambition turns out to be a complicating factor in both her personal relationships and professional goals.

Jade Kennedy played Meg, the eternal romantic who dreams of getting married and starting a family but is worried that their genteel poverty may spoil her chances. She is amusing, wholehearted and loyal to those who love her. She is a character that you wanted to see end up happy because she is instantly appealing. Again, this is a character who can be something of a type rather than a person, but Kennedy brought out her frustrations at the lack of money and the uncertainty she feels about herself and her position in both society and in the heart of her would be suitor.

Catherine Chalk as Beth had probably the most difficult character to bring to life. Her self sacrificing nature and her health battles make her, in some versions, more of a cypher than a character. In this play, however, she is every bit the main driver in keeping the contrasting natures of her siblings in balance. She is not afraid to tell them when they are wrong, firmly but affectionately, and she sticks to her principles throughout. For her, charity is not just a way of helping others, but a way of making yourself a stronger person. Her musical talent gives her a focus and a belief that the future will be better for all of them. In Chalk’s capable hands I felt for the first time that Beth was a living breathing person.

Imogen Elliott was Amy, the youngest of the sisters. She is utterly determined to be rich and to surround herself with the finest things in life. That determination brings her into conflict with Jo and sees her put herself first on every occasion. Her flash of real anger and spite early on when she is unable to go to a dance is genuinely shocking. She balances this out with her feisty nature and her humour along with her growing self awareness. When you first see the family, Amy is about 12 or 13 years old, a challenge for any actor on stage as the portrayal of a young person can easily tip over into caricature. To be honest, I thought that Elliott herself was perhaps 16 or so herself, so convincing was she as a soon to be teenager. She was able to change her portrayal of Beth with alterations in her physical approach, seemingly growing up before our eyes before finally becoming a young lady of poise and beauty. It was incredibly subtly done and marks her out as a real rising star.

On the night we went, Ellie Pawsey played Marmee. She is the moral centre of the family and the play with a firm religious conviction in the role of goodness and charity. Her acceptance of their straitened circumstances occasionally frustrates the sisters and constantly irritates Aunt March. However, her strength and determination in the face of all the challenges give her a steel that gives her a real presence. To balance this out she is a cheerleader when things are difficult, humorous in a subtle way and able to admit that this is something she has had to learn to accept over the years. Pawsey was able to show both sides of her character with warmth, humour and affection.

Cillian Lenaghan played Laurie, the young man who moves into the big house opposite the sisters. He instantly slots into the role of playmate for Jo, who starts to blossom as a result of the friendship. When it turns out that his feelings for her tend in a different direction, it leads to a fracture in their relationship that drives the second half of the play. Laurie is adept at puncturing Jo’s occasional self importance with some affectionate teasing and he is open and honest with all the sisters. He treads a fine line between the romantic and the filial and Lenaghan makes him an instantly appealing character who gives the play a focus away from the relationship at its heart.

Jack Ashton played both John Brooke and Professor Bhaer. I can give no better compliment than to say I genuinely didn’t realise that they were one and the same person until I read the cast list again at the end! His portrayals of the soft spoken tutor of Laurie and the excitable and passionate German academic were completely different physically as well as in terms of character. Brooke is slow and deliberate with a physical demeanour that anchors him to the stage, whereas Bhaer is constantly moving and almost bouncing with passion and excitement. The two of them are such contrasting characters and Ashton showed real skill in bringing out the authenticity of both.

Last and definitely not least we have Aunt March played by the amazing Belinda Lang. It was her presence in the cast that made me so eager to see the play as she has long been one of my favourite actresses. She was a total delight every time she appeared on stage. Her humour and exasperation were perfectly pitched as she played the Southern matriarch with clear delight. I wanted to see more of her, the sign of a great character and a marvellous actress, but it was the occasional and brief nature of her scenes that made her appearances all the more effective. It was every bit the treat I expected to see one of my favourites on stage and I am so glad I was able to get the opportunity.

Final thoughts

I had only seen one version of this story before, the Greta Gerwig film from 2019, and despite trying very hard I was completely unable to get into the book, so I was not familiar with the events that unfolded. This meant that the twists and turns were often a surprise and they kept me gripped throughout. Having not really thought of this as a story that I could really become engaged with, the play proved me completely wrong. The cast made me care about each character and I was absolutely captivated from the first minute to the last. I know that this tour is coming to an end at Richmond, but if and when the play reappears I can absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants two enchanting hours in the company of the March sisters.