Little Women

Gate Theatre, Dublin Until Jan 14 7.30pm (Sat mat 2.30pm) 20-35 (15 students) 01-8744045 gate-theatre.ie

“If there is a demand for it, I don’t see any harm in supplying it.” So counters the independently minded, jejune Jo when accused of peddling literary trash. Straight from the pages of Louisa May Alcott’s classic, those words also explain the box office rationale behind Anne-Marie Casey’s new stage adaptation.

Michael Barker-Caven’s production is far from a cynical exercise, though, which is only fitting for a Civil War-era parable of love, self-sacrifice and romantic independence. But nor can a morally earnest costume drama be very daring without grinding its gears.

With great brio, sisters Meg, Beth, Amy and Jo (who range from sassy to suffering), flounce, laugh, cry, flounce, and have various misadventures involving hair loss – none of them quite as distressing as the sight of characters nearly drowned by occasional stylised movement sequences or video projections. The excellent cast – including Lorna Quinn (left), Marty Rea, Kathy Rose O’Brien, Jane McGrath, Aisling Franciosi and Peter Gaynor – know better, playing it so affectionately straight you barely notice the lack of meaningful character development.

Then again, the enduring appeal of Alcott’s books is not the values instilled or lessons learned, but the title’s gentle reassurance: growing up is never complete.

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