Bay Area arts: 8 great shows and concerts to catch this week

"Bay Area playwright Lauren Gunderson has created a walking-talking literary/theatrical museum of sorts with her works about real-life people and famous characters. These include Marie Curie, 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, her own husband (famed virologist Nathan Wolfe) as well as Jane Austen's beloved "Pride & Prejudice" characters in her "Christmas at Pemberley" trio of plays. We are, of course, just scratching the surface with Gunderson, who is known as one of America's most prolific and most-produced playwrights. Luckily, her Bay Area connections mean that many of her works get presented here, particularly at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in Palo Alto."

"She returns to the company this week with her latest project, "Louisa May Alcott's Little Women," a world premiere co-commissioned by TheatreWorks; City Theatre Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Northlight Theatre in Skokie, Illinois; and People's Light in Malvern, Pennsylvania. In the world premiere production, Gunderson brings to the stage the iconic March sisters - Meg, Beth, Amy, and Jo - and their mother (Marmee) in a family-friendly story set in 19th-century New England and filled with the adventure, romance, hardship, and above all sisterhood that defines Alcott's works. As the Chicago Tribune noted, "Gunderson's love for her characters bursts from all her scripts. She fuses period interest with a contemporary sensibility." TheatreWorks artistic director Giovanna Sardelli helms the production."

Lauren Gunderson creates plays featuring historical figures and beloved fictional characters, including Marie Curie, Henrietta Leavitt, Nathan Wolfe, and Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice characters. Many of her works are regularly presented in the Bay Area, especially at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in Palo Alto. TheatreWorks is staging the world-premiere of "Louisa May Alcott's Little Women," a co-commission with several regional theaters, which brings the March sisters and Marmee to life in a family-friendly 19th-century New England tale of adventure, romance, hardship, and sisterhood. Previews run through Friday with the main run Saturday through Oct. 12 at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, $39-$109, theatreworks.org.

Read at The Mercury News