Darlington Hippodrome – until 4 October 2025
Reviewed by Andrew Bramfitt
3***
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women has been tugging at our heartstrings since 1868, and judging by the current UK tour—now stopping at Darlington Hippodrome—it’s not running out of emotional mileage any time soon. Adapted by Anne-Marie Casey and directed by Loveday Ingram, this production manages the neat trick of making a 19th-century family drama feel like it’s speaking directly to us in 2025. That’s no small feat when bonnets are involved.
The story, of course, is as familiar as a well-thumbed paperback: the March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy—navigate the highs and lows of growing up in Civil War-era New England. There’s ambition, romance, tragedy, sibling squabbles, and more hair being chopped off than you’d expect in a respectable household. It’s basically “coming of age” with added corsetry.
Natalie Dunne as Jo March gives us a Jo who is fiery, restlessly ambitious, and yet heartbreakingly human in her disappointments. Her struggle to reconcile her drive to write with the expectations placed on her (by family, society, her own conscience) is one of the most compelling aspects of the performance. Jade Oswald as Meg, Megan Richards as Beth, and Jewelle Hutchinson as Amy each bring fully realised differences: we see Meg’s yearning for stability, Beth’s gentle sacrificial spirit, Amy’s gradual growth from vanity toward something more grounded. Perry Williams’ Laurie is touching, sometimes infuriating, always a foil to the sisters’ dynamics. Supporting performances — Belinda Lang (Dear John, 2point4 Children) as the overbearing Aunt March (with an accent not out of place in Gone with the Wind) and the wonderful Juliet Aubrey (Middlemarch, Snatch) as Marmee — anchor the family, giving us the traditions, the pressures, and the caring that shape the sisters’ world.
Ingram’s direction keeps things moving with a light touch: moments of tenderness are allowed to breathe, but never descend into syrup. The set and costume design conjure period detail without ever making the production feel like a dusty museum exhibit. The effect is both faithful and fresh—like finding out your gran is secretly brilliant at TikTok.
The themes, of course, are timeless. Jo’s determination to be a writer on her own terms, Meg’s longing for love and stability, Amy’s battle between art and ambition, Beth’s quiet heroism—all resonate as powerfully today as they did 150 years ago. The central tension between personal ambition and societal expectation is one which women (and men) are still grappling with: career or family? Self-expression or conformity? How many sacrifices are too many? Watching Jo wrestle with these questions feels oddly like sitting in on a very stylish therapy session.
This production isn’t flawless—some minor characters could use a little more oomph, and occasionally the sentimentality teeters on the edge of a Hallmark card—but these are quibbles. At its heart, this is a witty, warm, and heartfelt take on a classic, delivered with energy and sincerity.
So, if you fancy an evening of laughter, tears, and possibly envying Jo’s literary firepower, Little Women at Darlington Hippodrome is well worth a visit. Just don’t forget the tissues. And maybe a notebook—Jo’s work ethic is alarmingly contagious.