UND Theatre Arts Department to present ‘Little Women’ – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS – The UND Department of Theatre Arts Department is presenting “Little Women,” a play adapted from the Louisa May Alcott novel, from Wednesday, Feb. 25, to Sunday, March 1.

Curtain times are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. This will be the last performance in the Burtness Lab Theater, as the department transitions to a new performance space in Starcher Hall next season, according to Brad Reissig, production manager.

Tickets are $25 for adults; $15 for students, senior and adult military with ID. Tickets are free for student military with ID.

To purchase tickets, go to the online box office,

theatre.und.edu

and click on the box office tab, or call (701) 777-2587. In-person ticket sales will be available at the Burtness box office only on show nights. All sales are credit or debit card; neither cash nor checks will be accepted.

The play “Little Women,” by Kate Hamill, follows the lives of four sisters as they navigate childhood, love and loss in New England during and after the Civil War. The book, loosely based on the author Alcott’s own life, explores the sisters’ journey to womanhood while overcoming poverty and pursuing personal dreams.

The story’s protagonist, the independent Jo March “isn’t your typical Victorian lady,” Reissig said in the event announcement. “She is indecorous and headstrong – and one day she’s going to be a great American novelist.”

The March sisters “strive to be brave, intelligent and imaginative young women,” he said. “But as adulthood approaches, each sister must negotiate her private ambitions with society’s expectations. In a war-torn world defined by gender, class and personal tragedy, Jo March gives us her greatest story: that of the March sisters, four dreamers destined to be imperfect little women.”

For this production, the UND Department of Theater Arts has teamed with the Red River Valley Fiber Arts Guild and the North Star Quilters Guild, Reissig said. A variety of handcrafted quilts will be on display.

The emphasis on community partnerships stems from the department’s guiding theme this year, “Our Community, Our Voices,” said Tami Carmichael, professor of theatre arts. It coincides with UND’s overall “Community” theme this year.

“The Fiber Arts Guild will be displaying their crafts, to give people a sense of the kinds of art work that they’re producing, the various forms that fiber arts can take,” Carmichael said.

“When the arts work together to, sort of, raise each other up, I think that’s very important,” she said, noting that such collaboration can increase residents’ awareness of local arts organizations and “the type of opportunity that they might have to be involved.”

In the “Little Women” play, each of the March sisters is an artist in her own right – a playwright, an actor, pianist and painter, Carmichael said, and the original story is written by a woman.

“And so you have all of these women’s arts that are coming together to tell this wonderful story about how we define ourselves and how we think about ourselves and how we interact as a community,” she said. “And it just struck me that another piece of what they do – especially in the book – is the idea of what they may have been doing at the time.”

In the Civil War era, women were very active, gathering in groups to knit items for their soldiers and creating quilts for each other as they carried out their daily lives.

“The fiber arts and quilts are very much an art form in their own right, and I think one that is often overlooked because it has been situated in that area of ‘women’s work’ for a very long time. I think sometimes this sort of thing gets sort of dubbed as ‘craft’ as opposed to the incredible art form that it is,” Carmichael said.

“So it made sense to me to think about how can we connect with community members who are engaged in this very historical art work that they’ve been doing and do so well, and wanting to display that and bring the community into conversation with these (artists). …”

The quilts will be “historical in nature” in the displays that will be “retrospective,” she said, “looking back in time,” from the 1950s and earlier.

Chelsea Chimilar, teaching assistant professor, is directing the performance. The stage manager is Oliver van Tiel, UND student.

Cast members are Alexis Mull, Bethany Shipley, Videesha Perera, Aaliyah Aberle, Molly Robb, Lora Gatheridge, Isaac Anderson, Dylan Scott, Sean McNulty and Alexander Collins.

The production crew includes Reissig, scenic and lighting designer; Kylie McDonald and Joseph Shappel, costume designer and assistant costume designer, respectively; Alexis Mull, hair and makeup designer; and Adriene Grigsby, sound designer and technical director.

The UND Department of Theatre Arts has presented outstanding performances in the Burtness Lab Theater for more than 60 years, Reissig said.

“If you have been a longtime patron or if this is your first experience in the space,” he encouraged theater-goers to not miss this opportunity to experience a “historic event.”

The Burtness Lab Theater space, in the building’s lower level, will be used for storage of props and scenery, Carmichael said. The main Burtness Theater will continue to be used for plays and other productions.