Little Women | Darlington Hippodrome
Review by Stephen Stokoe | 30th September 2025
‘It wouldn’t be Christmas without Christmas presents.’ Well I got an early Christmas present this year as I was invited to watch Louisa May Alcott’s charming story of family, aspirations, love, and rivalry at Darlington Hippodrome. This timeless tale is cleverly adapted for the stage by Anne-Marie Casey and she has done a marvellous job and, alongside director Loveday Ingram, has created something very beautiful to watch from the close harmonies at the start of the play to the final bow.
Little Women follows the coming-of-age story of four sisters all different as they decide what they want from their impoverished lives. The main protagonist is tom-boy and would be writer Josephine March. In this production she is played by Natalie Dunne who gives us a playful headstrong Jo who is instantly likeable and to many, I am sure, relatable.
Next comes the upwardly mobile Meg March (Jade Oswald) Much more feminine in nature, Meg wants nothing more than to fit in with the other girls and, perhaps, marry above her station as she enters adulthood.
Completing the sisters are the younger girls, Amy (Jewelle Hutchinson) who is a lot more like Jo that either girls would like to admit and finally Beth (Megan Richards) who, as the youngest gets to play the kiddy, excitable goat, which Richards does to comedic and adorable success.
The girls are cared for by their loving but struggling mother ‘Marmie’ (Juliet Aubrey Abigail) who has been left alone while their father fights and is seriously injured serving in the American Civil War.
The love interests are provided by the handsome young heir Theodore ‘Laurie’ Laurence (Perry Williams), the shy tutor John Brook and the intriguing older Berlin born professor Baer (both played by Tom Richardson). Adding to the tension is the wonderfully fabulous and Lady Bracknell-esque Aunt March (formidably performed by Belinda Lang) who commands the stage (both on and off occasionally) and is a sheer to delight to observe whenever she is part of the action.
While some characters have become footnotes in the script or dispensed with altogether to stage this story, the narrative is very faithful to the source material and gently takes the audience through the lives in carefully selected vignettes which offer a linear passage through to the end of the first part of Louisa May Alcott’s duology culminating with ‘Good Wives.’
The set (Ruari Murchison) is a fascinating one which allows the audience into various locations both outdoors and in with the simplest of rearranging of props and other moveable objects. It is very cleverly done by the creatives and the cast and works very well indeed. The musical interludes (composed by Matthew Bugg and musically directed by Nick Tudor) are particularly effective offering a gentle segue between scenes with some carefully chosen hymns from the time period in which the play is set.
The costumes and wigs (Alison Kirkpatrick, Elaine Pearson, Kirsty Rowe, and Jane Temple, with Darren Ware of the Wig Room) are perfect down to the scorch mark on Jo’s dress where she got a little too close to the sitting room fire.
It is through this attention to detail that is evident throughout this production, that the love in the prose is brought out. This is a thoroughly absorbing production which flies by as the audience invests in the lives and loves of the March sisters. Do be prepared to have a hanky handy – do not say I did not warn you.
There is a reason that some stories become classics, and this production is a prime example. It is measured, thoughtful, clever, and enchanting so get your tickets and spend a few Christmases with the Marches at Darlington Hippodrome and give yourself a little sunshine.