On a drizzly Tuesday evening in May, when you have felt the lack of a jumper all day, the sight of a Christmas tree on stage was oddly comforting. Little Women is adapted from Louisa May Alcott’s novel about the four March Family sisters (Jo, Beth, Amy and Meg) and their mother “Marmee” during the American Civil War, whilst their father is away as an army chaplain. The story of these sisters growing up is familiar to many of us, I had quite clear re-collections, especially in the first half, for example the story of Meg’s hair being singed by curling tongs.

This personal re-remembering, alongside the wintery birch tree staging and orange glow lights gives this play a real sense of warmth. However, this faithful adaptation doesn’t shy away from Louisa May Alcott’s strong themes around gender, class, money and especially societal expectations of women which still ring true today. We are carried through this performance by beautiful lilting adaptations of familiar songs, composed by the sound designer (Matthew Bugg). There is another connecting feature of light comedy throughout, which I was less convinced by, I am not sure why Aunt March (Belinda Lang) was forced into being the brunt of all the jokes and felt this was slightly over-used.

Jo March (Grace Molony) was of course the star of the show, quite rightly, as in any self-respecting production of Little Women. I particularly enjoyed the earnest individuality brought to this character, such as the jittery tapping of her foot while she was writing. The interactions between the sisters were recognisable from any sibling relationship; the fights between Jo and Amy (Imogen Elliot) were especially accurate. Beth (Catherine Chalk) shone in the second half of the play which had more emotional depth and her scene were she was very ill was a moving portrayal, as I remember it being in the book. Marmee was played by Ellie Pawsey, as understudy, in an honest way which was gently containing. I did find the American accents slightly jarring at the beginning but actually they seemed to settle quite quickly, although the German “ze” of Baer (understudy Jim Kelly) blended in slightly less well.

Little Women was a sincere, beautifully told story, which was really enjoyed by the audience at the Oxford Playhouse, the bus on the way home was full with “wasn’t it lovely”. It had a cosy Sunday night feel to it, but it also strongly echoed the voice of the novel, which speaks loudly of the wider social context that these young women lived in.