Sitting in a dimly lit audience, laughter echoes, coming from four women.
An old wooden table sits in the center of a brown backdrop with a small piano nearby. All of a sudden, the March sisters arrive on stage, captivating the audience and bringing the University Theatre Guild’s “Little Women” to life.
UTG, a UT performance student organization, puts on two full-length shows every semester. This fall, Kate Hamill’s adaptation of “Little Women” made its way onstage, offering a modern translation of the beloved book by Louisa May Alcott that lets characters be realistically flawed while emphasizing the importance of family.
“I love this adaptation because it modernizes the text so much,” said director Olivia Ring, a sustainability studies and English senior. “It allows the women to be imperfect, struggle and to come to terms with their identity as women.”
The production highlighted the need for independent female characters in live theater. Lucky Cantu, an acting sophomore playing Jo March, said the characters’ realistic motivations shaped her own.
“You don’t see roles like Jo very often in theater, especially for women,” Cantu said. She’s somebody that is not driven by a man, she’s driven by her writing and her passions and her love for her sisters.”
Alongside displaying realistic family dynamics, “Little Women,” set during the Civil War, does not shy away from its political themes.
“A lot of (“Little Women”) is about speaking your mind, even when people around you are trying to suppress that political inclination,” Ring said. “It’s ensuring that women feel like their autonomy and their voices are still heard.”
The show roots itself in sisterhood. Sarah Reach, psychology junior and actor playing Beth March, said she grew close with her onstage sisters throughout the rehearsal process.
“We were all very connected and comfortable with each other,” Reach said. “We knew a lot about our own individual roles that made us fit together.”
Eli Cabello, an audience member and special education sophomore, said the show also communicated its themes about the importance of family.
“This production in particular did a really good job of portraying a realistic family,” Cabello said. “It was (a) very realistic depiction of how families and siblings interact with each other, and that they can still have little tiffs and arguments, but they still … love each other so much.”
Unlike other adaptations, Kate Hamill ends her show with Beth March’s death, leaving audiences with a final image of community.
“Beth dying places a lot of emphasis on the aspect of family throughout the whole show and how important it is to be there with the ones you love,” Reach said.
As the company performed the last show, Reach felt the ending represented the journey the cast had taken offstage as the whole fictional family gathered around Beth onstage.
“It was very sad, especially on the last show because we were ending the show completely, and being with everybody,” Reach said. “It was like we already did create a little family.”
Cantu said the realness and simplicity of “Little Women” captures the story’s joy.
“Nothing crazy happens,” Cantu said. “It doesn’t have wizards or magic or anything. The difficult parts of this show are everyday things that happen to us, and I think that’s really beautiful.”
