BY DANIELA FOLEY
“Little Women,” the coming-of-age story that follows four sisters as they navigate life during the Civil War, will be brought to the stage of the Carmel High performing arts center on Oct. 2.
Directed by Jeff McGrath, the CHS theater manager with decades of experience, “Little Women” is expected to incorporate the talents of student actors, stage managers and set designers. Additionally, MPC Stagecraft, a new dual-enrollment class offered at CHS after school every Thursday, gives students the opportunity to fine-tune their talents and gain college credits, helping the drama production team.
Seniors Adam Angel, who plays Laurie, and Averil Mabry, who plays Jo March, have been working on blocking the scene in which their character are introduced to each other. Photo by ABBY FREY.
“We definitely have actors from different experience levels,” says McGrath, “but my expectation is that they will all really ground and root themselves in the reality of the character to give realistic portrayals.”
For McGrath, the directing process begins within the first week of school with auditions and casting choices, something he finds difficult due to the abundance of talent at CHS. After casting the show, students begin with a read-through of the script and start putting the show together scene by scene.
“We run the scene, and then we go back and run a little bit more, and then we go back and run a little bit more,” explains McGrath. “It is a tedious process, but the objective is to wring out the scene, leaving only the most honest and truthful version.”
Senior Averil Mabry, who will be playing the lead role of Jo March, looks forward to being able to share the story and its resonated themes with those who may not be familiar with it.
“‘Little Women’ is so special to me, so I’m excited to bring it to life,” says Mabry. “I want to share the story with more people, and it’s nice to be able to do that in a live production.”
Playing the character Laurie, Jo’s love interest, is senior Adam Angel. For Angel, collaborating as a cast offers him the opportunity to grow not only as a performer, but on a personal level as well.
“This cast specifically has a lot of chemistry that is special among students in theater,” says Angel. “I am excited to see how the portrayal of our characters and their relationships grow as the rehearsal process continues.”
Though “Little Women” was written in the 1860s, McGrath emphasises how the themes introduced in the book continue to be relevant to society today.
“What we need to figure out as a cast is how to tell the story of ‘Little Women’ in a way that continues to be relevant to audiences,” says McGrath. “We then pick that lock and crack that safe to deliver it to our audiences.”
“Little Women” will open at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, at the CHS performing arts center.
