A few weeks ago, I attended Wellesley College Upstage’s production of “Little Women.” I should note that two of my friends were in the play, playing Marmee and Amy March, and it was truly amazing to see how they were able to embody the characters and represent them on stage. But moreover, having some idea of the amount of time and care that goes into each production, I was afforded an intimate understanding of the hard work each member of the cast and crew put into making “Little Women” so wonderful. The play did a great job of highlighting the warm and comforting aspects of the novel. The set was very well made and incredibly welcoming, like an authentic colonial New England home. 

“Little Women” follows the lives of the four March sisters: romantic eldest sister Meg (Julia Reste ’27), spirited Jo (Noelle Lenden ’29), who dreams of being a writer, kind Beth (Nyla Ahmad ’28) and Amy (Scarlet Kim ’29), the youngest and most ambitious of the sisters. The play adaptation opens with an adult Jo (Caro de la Vega ’26) speaking to an audience in New York about her novel, “Little Women.” We are given a brief introduction to her character, as well as her sisters and their mother (Avery Rosewall-Godly ’29), Margaret, who goes by Marmee.

We then flash back to a Christmas from the girls’ childhood. The story is told in a series of flashbacks and vignettes, similar to Greta Gerwig’s 2019 film adaptation, yet organized in a more clear chronological order. We follow the girls through their lives from childhood as they grow into young women. Each sister grapples with her own struggles as she learns how to balance personal values with the societal expectations of the Civil War-era United States. At the end of the play, we return to present grown-up Jo, the narrative being unified as we see how the stories of the March sisters’ lives have come together in Jo’s novel. 

In this production, it was the actors who truly brought the story to life. 

Rosewall-Godly, who has previously appeared in an Upstage production as Audrey Two in “Little Shop of Horrors,” portrayed a very different character here than in her first Upstage role. As Marmee, the warm and loving matriarch of the March family, she provides a steady presence that anchors the chaos of the sister’s personalities and steadies the play as a whole. 

De la Vega and Lenden bring a vibrant energy to the role of Jo March. While Lenden’s young Jo truly embodies the fiery spirit of the bold and outspoken young author, de la Vega’s take on the adult Jo allows us to see a more mature facet of the character, shaped by a lifetime of experiences and love. 

Reste and Ahmad play Meg and Beth March, respectively. Reste’s Meg is the most romantic of the sisters, dreaming of finding love and winning over the hearts of the audience as she navigates adolescence and eventually falls in love. Ahmad’s Beth is quiet and kind, subtly shifting the dynamics of her family with her endless generosity.

As the ambitious and intelligent Amy March, Kim’s character, sometimes coming off as selfish, frequently utilizes societal expectations to her advantage. Amy works as a foil to the unruly Jo, her storyline being one of the most compelling. Kim perfectly represented her growth from a frivolous and frustrated child to an independent, poised and pragmatic woman. 

Played by Carme Sanz-Muñoz ’26, Laurie was immediately captivating. Sanz-Muñoz’s demeanor on stage added an initial shyness to the eventually charismatic and confident male protagonist. As Laurie’s relationships with the March sisters develop, the audience watches as he grows into a more responsible and thoughtful adult.

Each character plays a crucial role in the development of the narrative and allows audience members to see a facet of themselves reflected on stage. There is a little bit of each March sister’s storyline within all of us, and the actors perfectly portrayed the adaptability and relatability of each character.  

Wellesley College serves as a particularly poignant setting for an adaptation of the novel. With a majority female cast and crew, many moments during the show took on an extra layer of depth — when adult Jo jokes about being in a room full of feminists/suffragettes, or when Jo and Amy grapple with not being permitted the same educational opportunities and societal privileges as Laurie, their wealthier childhood friend, neighbor, and eventual love interest. As a young woman, I see many of the personal struggles I have faced reflected in this play. There were times in high school when I was occasionally disliked for sardonic or harsh comments directed at my male peers that would have been ignored if said by a man. Many women and feminine-presenting individuals are forced to mince words and reel back aspects of their personality in order to be respected in classrooms and professional spaces. 

Upstage’s “Little Women” deeply understands the heart of the novel and beautifully reflects the struggles of transitioning from girlhood to womanhood.