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A couple of weeks ago, I saw a production of “Little Women,” an adaptation by Kate Hamill of the classic book by Luisa May Alcott. I had many strong feelings about this production, most of which were frustrations. I thought the choice of play was questionable and the casting of the show furthered issues already present in the existing narrative.
I’m not sharing any info about where the production took place because this is not a review, it’s a reaction and reflection.
This production of “Little Women” attempted to frame itself as a progressive-leaning production regarding the casting decisions made. Every March sister was played by an actress of a different race, showing a more progressive idea of what a family looks like. In theory, I am super on board with this casting. However, as the narrative played out, I found myself asking some questions during moments that didn’t really work.
Jo, the protagonist and point of view character, was played by a white actress, whereas her sisters, who we only see narratively through the eyes of Jo, were all played by actresses of color. This sparked some questions about the intent of the performance. It seemed to me that the company was posing that this production of Little Women was no longer just another white story being told. That, through their intentionally race-blind casting, the narrative of a traditionally white family could be explored by people of other races. However, because Jo is our pov character and since she was white, the play still read as another white story being told. Furthermore, whenever Jo tried to break free from the boxes of femininity that society and her family place on her, her family, all women of color, would, for the most part, tell her to grow up. The reduction of Jo’s coded queerness by bodies of color presents audiences with a potentially dangerous narrative. queer liberation is rooted in the activism of black and other people of color so positing that a bunch of women of color would be so against Jo's exploration feels like it does a disservice to the history of queer exploration while also furthering the centering of whiteness in the narrative.
There were more examples of issues like this, one being the conversations of abolition that the narrative tries to introduce. Through the casting, no black people were on stage to talk about abolition. Jo seemed to be the only one who cared about the issues, which came across as super white-saviory given how the show was cast.
It’s so frustrating to see, because, with a little more intention, the layers to the character of Jo and the narrative she is thrust into could have been so much deeper had that character been cast as a non-white performer. Plus, given Jo's exploration of queerness and femininity, so much more would have been added to the character had, say, a black woman played her. The history of the masculinization of black women could have been explored through this character if the casting had been different.
I think my feelings about this production can be summed up by the main goal I have with my artistry. I strive to create with intention. The more theater I see, the more this goal is solidified in my mind. And I think this applies to more than just theater. I strive to live with intention. I want to understand the things I do, why I do them, and how they affect other people. Creating and living with intention forces me to consider different viewpoints, which in turn influences my artistry.
I love the random successes that can happen throughout the creative process, but I value the time I spend before I take on a project where I think through what my intention with a certain project is, and my intentions behind the decisions I make within the project. I value the dramaturgical work that should happen as the first step in planning a show.
Casting with intention feels especially important right now. In the wake of color-blind casting taking over the world and shows like Hamilton and 1776 romanticizing genocide and oppressive structures, the intent behind the stories we tell as well as how we tell them matters more than ever.
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