From Dec 4-6, the BVH Theater Department is performing the perfectly seasonal Little Women play in the Bolle’s theater for the first time in BVH theater history. As winter rapidly approaches, the classic, Little Women, illustrates hard work, sacrifice, love and the importance of family. The pick for the script was determined while keeping in mind relevance and timeliness. Senior Joanna Amaro, playing Brooke, a tutor in the story, explains that Little Women was meant to catch the eye of BVH students.
“We wanted to do something that would catch the attention of the school, something that was well known and something that was relevant to what people are studying today. To me, Little Women [appeals to] embracing yourself and the people around you through hard times,” Amaro said.
Additionally, contrary to recent productions, Little Women is solely run by IB Theater actors and students. In the past, all drama and theater students have had the chance to be involved in productions, but Little Women is exclusive to those in the IB program.
“This one is a bit different because it is just the IB drama class doing it and last year it was combined with regular theater production and IB [drama],” Amaro said.
Putting on a play as an IB student is a multilayered experience because in contrast to normal theater classes, IB Theater students must juggle their production along with preparing for IB exams. Balance is a crucial characteristic in the process of rehearsing. Senior Lily Hobson, playing one of the sisters, Jo, has learned that firsthand when it comes to practicing lines and studying for other classes.
“I enjoy [the process]. It will be a lot to juggle when we reach tech week; I have a math test but I have to memorize all of my lines. It is just scheduling time for everything. I always read my lines [three times] right before I go to sleep,” Hobson said.
Countless hours of rehearsals, line-practicing and test preparation are bound to lead to an overwhelmingly successful production. Little Women’s talented student actors and hard-working set designers have led to, according to Director and IB Theater teacher Rosa Maria-Sias, the overall result of beautiful scenes.
“There are a lot of those moments in the play where–and I know it sounds so silly–I always tell the students to ‘stay there [and] don’t move.’ It is a picturesque moment. They are classic, picturesque moments of a family united because they are suffering,” Sias said. “There are a number of those scenes that remind me of what it is to be a family, to love one another during difficult times, to support one another. It is those family moments that I really try to capture.”
The picturesque scenes of Little Women are about more than their appearance. They showcase values that are applicable to the world and overall society. To Hobson, the play illustrates the nuanced experience of being a woman and speaks specifically to her life as a sister in a large family.
“It means a lot to me. I really see myself in the character of Jo March because I have three sisters and my family dynamic is a lot like theirs,” Hobson said. “I think it is a really touching story and as a woman in our society, I feel it speaks to the different layers of what it means to be a woman.”
Anyone can find some sort of connection to Little Women, whether it be through social expectations, complicated family dynamics or general hardships like change and the process of overcoming challenges.
“[Little Women explores] womanhood and the different ways of being a woman, how nothing is truly right or wrong. [It also focuses on] change. A lot of the time the plot revolves around Jo’s resistance to change, so it focuses on the nature of life and how you cannot really stop it,” Hobson said.
With winter approaching and the arts forever enriching, it is the perfect time to witness BVH history. Like all recent theater productions, students receive discounted ticket prices for easier access and as Hobson puts it, missing the play is “depriving yourself of the arts.”
“I just encourage students to get out there and watch a play, even if it is for the first time. If not, then it is great to be out there to support fellow classmates and friends,” Sias said.
Little Women encapsulates important values during the holiday season and although they can be applied throughout the year, the production is only running from Dec. 4-6. It is imperative that students see the play if possible, because according to Amaro, it is bound to change the views of any who witnesses it.
“I wish I could tell people that if you go see it, you are not going to come out of the play thinking the same way as when you went in. It will switch your perspective whether or not you have seen the movie or read the book,” Amaro said.
