It has turned into a summer of Little Women. Three years after film-maker Greta Gerwig raised the profile of Louisa May Alcott’s novel, Mark Adamo’s adaptation is enjoying a UK premiere at Opera Holland Park in London, while there are stage versions outdoors in Chester and indoors in Pitlochry. In troubled times, this tale of resourcefulness, romance and sisterly solidarity offers warmth and reassurance.
In Chester’s Grosvenor Park Open Air theatre production (★★★★☆), playwright Anne Odeke boldly sets her adaptation not in Massachusetts at the time of the American civil war but 50 years later – and on another continent. Her March sisters come of age in Chester as the nations of the triple entente are weighing up against Germany and Austria-Hungary.
