The Cast Photo by Mikki Schaffner

We meet Alcott (Beasley) at her writing desk as she wrestles with an editorial suggestion to write a novel about girls. She is resistant to the request, claiming she doesn't know many girls beyond her sisters and really imagines herself to have the soul of a boy. But as she introduces her actual sisters, the notion of fictionalizing them while recalling many of the events of her own life, she warms to the task and begins the process of spinning out a story that's told with humor and heart.

In Beasley's sparky, opinionated portrayal, Louisa (who prefers "Lou" and defines Josephine March as "Jo") is staunchly and ambitiously her own person. Jo is the ringleader among her siblings–older sister Meg (Hannah Fawcett), who has the most traditional trappings of a young woman, musical Beth (Brianna Woods), and impetuous kid sister Amy (Sammy Rat Rios)–even as they follow their own paths and strike out in directions that Jo would not choose. The family is guided by their wise, steadfast mother, Marmee (Connan Morrissey, who also has a one-scene appearance as judgmental Aunt March).

Familiar male characters are played by two actors. Lively Laurie (Rocco Weyer) is the charming boy next door who resonates emotionally with Jo but is spurned by her fierce determination to be independent. John Brook (Kieran Cronin) deferentially courts and weds Meg; when Jo goes to New York to pursue her profession, she is drawn to the kindly intellectual, Professor Friedrich Bhaer (Cronin again; he also plays two other small male roles).

Gunderson's script is a modern and effective adaptation. The actors play both Alcott's actual family as well as her novel's characters. Some dialogue is precisely Alcott's own, but Gunderson moves the story along and offers lighthearted commentary by having the actors step aside and directly address the audience about the characters' behavior, motives, and feelings. Such moments frequently evoke knowing chuckles from the audience.

From top to bottom, this is an excellent cast with actors from Cincinnati (Beasley, Morrissey and Cronin) and Portland (Fawcett, Rios and Weyer), as well as one from Dallas (Woods). Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is a co-production between the Playhouse and Portland Center Stage, where it was onstage in November and December, and this collaboration has ensured a satisfying polish to the production. The longer run has enabled the actors to add depth to their performances. Beasley gives tangible texture to tough-minded, sometimes intemperate Jo (as well as Alcott), and Morrissey's Marmee has several powerful moments, especially giving maternal advice to Meg early in her marriage and to Jo when her emotions are at odds with her life's possibilities.

Joanie Schultz, the Playhouse's associate artistic director and a reliably excellent creator of memorable productions, has staged this warm-hearted show thoughtfully. Her frequent collaborator, movement director and intimacy coordinator Vanessa Severo (assisted by actor Woods as dance captain), has provided subtle but deliberate choreography that makes the story move and flow with grace and meaning.

Scenic, lighting, sound, and costume designs are further pluses to the show. Chelsey Warren's set, with two banks of suspended, wood-framed, 12-paned windows surrounded by twining vines and foliage evoke the New England setting. Lovely touches include bird songs (sound design by T. Carlis Roberts) and red ornaments that show up momentarily on the vines when the story's events happen at Christmas. Modest furnishings–a fireplace, Alcott's writing desk, Beth's piano (used plaintively during her period of declining health)–all come and go with carefully arranged movement. Sarah Hughey's lighting design offers subtle accents to enhance the moods of various scenes. Period costumes by Lucy Wells are authentic to the era with subtle nods to each character.

Gunderson's use of author Alcott to open and close this telling of the story rooted in her own life, as well as the interpolation of observations by various characters, makes this delightful version memorably distinct from the many ways, dramatic and cinematic, that it has been told. It's definitely a version of Little Women for the 21st century, one that I'm certain will become yet another of the playwright's works that will turn up on stages across the U.S. in the years ahead.

Louisa May Alcott's Little Women runs through February 15, 2026, at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mt. Adams Circle, Cincinnati OH. For tickets and information, please visit cincyplay.com or call 513-421-3888.