Theatre Calgary's Christmas show celebrates family with classic tale
Hamill's 2018 adaptation of Alcott's coming-of-age novel running this month
For more than 150 years, Louisa May Alcott's coming-of-age novel Little Women has been charming readers young and old with its story of the trials, tribulations, loves, disappointments, successes and dreams of the four March sisters.
Little Women follows Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy on their journey from girls to young women during the American Civil War.
Theatre Calgary has chosen American playwright Kate Hamill's 2018 adaptation of Little Women for its holiday offering and director Jenna Rodgers has cast Vanessa Leticia Jetté as Meg, Dean Stockdale as Jo, Rebbekah Ogden as Beth and Heidi Damayo as Amy.
If anyone knows about sibling rivalry and bonding, it's Ogden, who boasts seven sisters and four brothers. She says truth and honesty flow from every page of Alcott's book and Hamill's stage adaptation.
“I have always loved Alcott's novel because she shows how different sisters can be. Jo and Amy are opposites in the way they view their place in the world. Amy wants nothing more than to grow up to be a proper Victorian lady whereas Jo insists she could never become a lady the way society says she should,” says Ogden.
“I saw this reflected in myself and my younger sister Laura when we were growing up. Laura wanted more structure in her life and she wanted to have a family. I wanted a career and I wanted to make a name for myself. Laura felt that attitude was selfish. That conflict was so real when we were living together.”
Today, Laura is happily married with two young children and Ogden has a career not only as an actor but as an artist. Her paintings were displayed in the lobby of Vertigo Theatre last year and she sold several.
“What we don't see in the play is how Jo and Amy's differences are solved. Today, Laura is incredibly supportive of who I am and we are both inspired by who we've each become. I like to think that's what happens for Jo and Amy after the curtain comes down in the play.”
Ogden says the best personal parallel is the relationship between her character Beth and older sister Jo.
“Jo and Beth are each other's rock. Jo expresses her vulnerability to Beth and Beth goes to Jo for advice and comfort. My older sister Jessica was always very maternal. We'd all go to Jessica with our problems. I felt I had to be there for her the same way she was for the rest of the family. By example, she taught me to be kind and caring. That's what Jo and Beth do for each other in Little Women.”
Ogden says her mother read Little Women aloud to her and her siblings and they watched different film versions together so being in a production of it is a dream come true, especially since it marks her Theatre Calgary debut.
Ogden is a graduate of the Rosebud theatre program where she starred in such productions as W.O.
I have always loved Alcott's novel because she shows how different sisters can be.
Mitchell's The Kite and the holiday classic A Christmas Story. She was an artistic associate at Lunchbox Theatre last season, where she was an assistant director on All I Want for Christmas and Heaven, and she starred as the horse whisperer in Alberta Theatre Projects' Cowgirl Up.
“In this play, when Jo, who wants to be a writer, feels rejection and disappointment, it's Beth who tells her there is always so much rejection in a creative life, and not to give up, but to write the real story and follow her heart. I'm fortunate because everyone in my family is so supportive of my desire to be an artist but it's my sister Laura who is the one who is always ready to tell me not to give up.”
Theatre Calgary's production of Little Women runs in the Max Bell Theatre until Dec. 31. There are special family packages of three to six tickets at $40 each for weekdays and $50 for weekends. Visit theatrecalgary.com for more information and to reserve tickets to any performance.