Presented by Fifth Business Theatre Company
11 March 2022 Tyndale Christian School
Review by Emma Knights
In the Adelaide Fringe program, my eye was caught by the Ana Dolls graphic design and that Voices was based on a story I love, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Upon entering Tyndale Christian School I was not sure what to expect of Voices but I was excited to see how local South Australian company Fifth Business Theatre Company would interpret this much-loved story.
This production was presented in a round with four quadrants for the performers to inhabit. The set, designed by Andrew Hawkins, felt instantly homely with the spaces from the original story easily discovered in each quadrant. I was thankful for the raised stools in the back row, a small but clever addition to ensure audiences could still see the action if seated in the back row. The performance I attended could have benefited from a few more microphones as there were a few dead spots across the performance space. Despite this, you were never too far away from the action so only minimal dialogue was missed.
The story of Voices places our much-loved Little Women characters in their thirties but places them in our modern time. It did take me a little while to get used to this and to understand what was happening but once I did, I was hooked. A lot of love and care has flowed into this script by the local writer, and director of the play, Janet Fletcher, with the assistance of dramaturg, Miriam Fietz. The script is peppered with snippets of letters, real events from the Alcott family (who were the basis for much of Little Women) alongside current news stories and struggles of modern life. The characters have been written perfectly, all their original characteristics are present in the way that they tackled Fletcher’s new chapters so they still felt completely familiar in their new setting.
This play, as the book it draws inspiration from, shows how these characters and this story speaks across the ages. The values of family, sister relationships and the coming of age are all there. It was heartwarming the way this interpretation spotlighted the “re-coming of age” that we all go through when we reach the milestone of thirty and beyond, showcasing that as humans we are always growing, changing and learning.
The cast of four brought the characters to life, the sisterly chemistry between Elyse Evans as Jo and Leah Potter as Beth was particularly touching. Finty McBain and Charis Button, as Meg and Amy respectively, added depth to the variations of sisterly relationships. The cast showed how we can see parts of ourselves in each of the characters, the audience so drawn in that there was laughter and tears.
An interesting element explored within this story by Fletcher was the idea of protecting someone versus writing that person’s story and how actions can be perceived on both sides when communication is absent. I do hope this script becomes available for hire or that Fifth Business Theatre Company choose to present it again as it is simply, and beautifully, real.
4.5 stars
