**** For years I have been telling people that the beauty of live theater, unlike seeing films, is that every performance is a happening, and even if you have seen a play several times, each time you do, it is a unique experience. “A one-of-a-kind”. The stage makes a difference, the director, the performers and even the tech side, but there is one more element that truly can turn the world upside down and that is the playwright.

“Little Women”, a coming of age novel written by Louisa May Alcott, published as two books back in 1868-1869 is a story that has been looked at as an autobiographical look at the author and her family. The book addresses three major themes: domesticity, true love and work ethics. While each of these items is independent of the other, the combination of all helps our heroine, Jo/Louisa ( played to perfection by Tyler Meredith, find her true identity. I have seen several interpretations of this book as well as a film version, and found the version that is on the stage at Northlight to be unique and entrancing, even for a male audience. The “translation” or should I say interpretation by Lauren Gunderson is different. The characters explain the narratives that would be in the text so that everyone can follow the action.

The direction by Georgette Verdin on a set designed by Sotirios Livaditis is clever in that the use of the side tunnels are quite effective. There are times that characters leave the stage and return quickly but with the explanation, we get it! The music and sound by Christopher Kriz is also enchanting and makes us feel the mood of what is taking place. Raquel Adorno’s costumes are wonderful, but I did think that there might be a few more changes since there were a number of years involved. The props (Nicolas Bartleson) are delightful with tons of books all over the stage.

The true character of this production is the ensemble. This cast is right on!  While Ms Meredith is the anchor as Jo March , representing Miss Alcott, her sisters, Meg ( deftly handled by Janyce Caraballo), Amy ( a sharp interpretation by Yourtana Sulaiman) and Beth ( a shining character played by Demetra Dee) along with their mother ( Lucy Carapetyan, who also plays their aunt) truly show the family ties that Alcott wrote about. The two men in the play, playing a few roles are John Drea as Laurie the man who loves and worships Jo, but ends up marrying another sister, and Erik Hellman playing both John( who marries Meg) and Friedrich who travels from Europe to make Jo his lady love.

I know that a number of men might say , “this is one for Ladies only”, but this production is slick and deserves to be seen by one and all. It is funny, sad, educational, spiritual. It is not all sugar and spice and everything nice, but in fact a story about love and family and think about the gender bending that was done by Alcott at a time when women were not accepted as writers. This is certainly a life lesson for young people that are near that coming of age time in their lives.

“Little Women” will continue thru – Jan 5, 2025 with performances as follows: