'Little Women' playwright finds story's joy and passion in a tempestuous time

""The story is not lace and doilies and sitting comfortably by the fire," Gunderson said. "They're at war, their father might not come home and there's a plague next door that's killing the community. These are really high stakes, and these girls are growing up in this moment of American division and crisis, the real stress-testing of humanity all around them.""

""It is not a small thing that these girls are up against, and how they manage it is with radical love and radical joy," Gunderson said. "They live within a radical community of people who are saying, 'I will not leave your side, know yo""

Lauren Gunderson's stage adaptation of Little Women centers the March sisters' coming-of-age amid Civil War-era crises, including war, an absent father, and a nearby plague threatening the community. The adaptation draws explicit parallels between 1860s American division and contemporary societal struggles, portraying characters who respond with radical love, radical joy, and steadfast communal support. TheatreWorks Silicon Valley is producing the play, directed by Giovanna Sardelli, with a Bay Area cast, running Sept. 24–Oct. 12 in Mountain View. Gunderson's body of work frequently revisits classics, including a Jane Austen–inspired Christmas at Pemberley trilogy.

Read at The Mercury News