Second year graduate
student Sean Connolly, who you may recognize from last season’s TRANSLATIONS,
is completing his Dramaturgy thesis on our current production of LITTLE WOMEN.
He took some time to chat with us about Louisa May Alcott’s beloved novel and
inspiring play. Learn more about LITTLE WOMEN here:
Dramaturging Little Women: The Musical has been an
fascinating challenge. Having been constricted to straight plays since
childhood, delving into a musical has not only opened my eyes to music, but
helped me find those nuggets of drama magic and nuance in dialogue that only
musicals can provide. For me, it has been a truly exciting production to be
a part of. Firstly, Little Women takes place in such a rich time period to
research, it is honestly a dramaturg’s dream, especially since it is a part of
history not often discussed. When we talk about the Civil War, we often think
of great battles, or burning Southern towns. If we are especially attuned we
might even consider the dramatizations presented in Gangs of New York or Gone
With The Wind. But real in depth exploration of the home front, particularly
the Northern Home Front, has been left to very few aging historians. That is
for the exception of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. What’s really exciting
about Little Women: The Musical, and particularly working with Valerie as
director of the musical, is that we are really trying to bring this classic
story into the 21st Century.  |
| Louisa May Alcott |
The roots of this modern interpretation are already explored
by Alcott herself, but have often been lost in the nostalgia of the piece. At
the time Alcott’s tale was radical and revolutionary. This was partially
because she was a Transcendentalist, a passionate Abolitionist, feminist and
reformer. Which brings up one of the most contentiously talked about moments in
Little Women. Thousands of readers of the novel have asked the question: Why
doesn’t Jo marry Laurie? This resulted in some very forceful conversations with
publishers and fans of the novel in 1868. However, the answer is actually quite
simple. Alcott didn’t want Jo to marry at all.
Alcott wanted to create a female character, Jo, who didn’t
need a man. This was very radical back then. Hundreds wrote to Alcott to
complain when Jo refused Laurie’s proposal. Eventually publishers got involved
and threatened to not publish Little
Women Part 2 if Jo remained unmarried. Clearly they were hoping to force Alcott
into marrying Jo to Laurie. Alcott was so furious, she developed a new plan.
She would marry Jo off, but not to Laurie, the man everyone wanted, but to Professor
Bhaer. All of this had an unintended consequence. There are moments of possible
passion in the music and on the page, but they have been hidden beneath a
Victorian view of Alcott’s world and a holy reverence of the novel. On the
surface all the characters are in their head, they all have an intellectual
affection for one another but not a physical one. All this comes back to that
original question that thousands of readers have been asking since 1868, why
doesn’t Jo marry Laurie?
For our production we wanted to connect these characters to
the 21st century in which open sexuality and human desire are more present on the surface of our interactions with someone we might be interested in. This has led to incredible discoveries during the rehearsal
process. For instance, to find Laurie’s motivation, we had to make him a little
boastful - he can’t just be the kid next door; he needs to have swagger. Laurie must be a complex character, driven not only by an
intellectual admiration of Jo but also a sexual drive. Jo is similarly complex. She is
driven intellectually, but we also we need to know she is free-thinking and passionate as well. Jo's desire becomes a powerful impetus behind her decision to not marry Laurie. Instead she
finds an equal partner in both intellect and passion when she falls for
Professor Bhaer. These explorations of character have made working on this
production so much more fascinating beyond the rich historical time period. For
me, it proves that these characters are just as real and exciting now as they
were in 1868.
LITTLE WOMEN runs at
Villanova Theatre from March 28-April 9 at Vasey Hall. Tickets are $21-$25 with
discounts available for students, alumni, faculty/staff, and senior citizens.
For tickets or information please visit www.villanovetheatre.org or call the
Box Office at 610-519-7474.
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