Bethel University just wrapped up performances of its fall play, “Little Women.” Here’s an inside look at what the cast members have to say about the production.
Q: What has been the best part of the show for you?
A: I’m a freshman this year, so it’s been really fun to just get involved. My favorite part was just getting to learn how Bethel theater works and getting to meet everyone.
—Ava Rasmussen, Aunt March/Mrs. Kirk (Gold Cast)
I’ve never been in a show with only ten people in it that I can remember…It’s just such an intimate cast. Just all that connection you get behind the scenes in unexpected ways.
—Emma Hendrickson, Amy March (Blue Cast)
At other places, it’s so try-hard and there’s drama backstage, but [at Bethel] I really don’t feel like there is that here, and I can just be myself and mess around a little bit.
—Landon Bjork, Laurie (Gold Cast)
Q: What is the hardest part of rehearsals?
A: For me, it’s definitely memorizing lines. This is my first time I’ve been in a role where I actually have to put in time to memorize lines, because normally I only have like five to ten lines.
—Monaya Meyer, Meg March (Gold Cast)
Maybe not the hardest part, but something good and bad, we’re all super close…where sometimes it’s hard to take it seriously when you’re supposed to be angry with each other or when it’s a serious scene.
—Emma Hendrickson, Amy March (Blue Cast)
Q: If you could have a conversation with any one of the characters, who would it be?
A: I would really like to talk to Marmee. I feel like just watching the show and learning everything about it, I’ve grown so much more respect for mothers in general…I would love to just get to hear her story, to hear what she was doing behind the scenes.
—Trinity Vang, Jo March (Gold Cast)
I wouldn’t call [Jo] necessarily a feminist, but she definitely pushed the boundaries of what a woman can be, and I really respect that in their time…I think it would be really cool just to talk with Jo and see “Why is she passionate?”
—Aviya Wadsager, Jo March (Blue Cast)
I would probably say Amy…I saw myself in Amy because I’m very emotional and make a big deal out of everything, and I love that about me…It would be fun to have a conversation and say, “Girl, you’re not crazy. You just need to calm down.”
—Stella Taylor, Amy March (Gold Cast)
Q: In your opinion, which character has the most character development?
A: Jo goes through so much…there’s just so much shift in all these feelings she’s feeling because she is the type of person who is zero or one hundred, you know, like she’s always one hundred percent feeling the emotion that she feels…and I think that’s why she has so much development…because you see her whole timeline of her feeling all these things greatly.
—Trinity Vang, Jo March (Gold Cast)
I feel like Amy does have a lot of perceived character development that you don’t necessarily see on stage, but it becomes very apparent in how [Stella Taylor] and how Emma Hendrickson carries herself as the character, because in the transition from act one to act two, she grows up.
—Monaya Meyer, Meg March (Gold Cast)
Q: What makes this story worth telling?
A: One of the biggest things we talk about at Bethel is “Belong and Become,” and I think “Little Women” is a story about belonging. It’s a story about figuring out who you are and who you love and finding your people. I think “Little Women” is an important story to tell out in the world, but I think at Bethel it really resonates.
—Ava Rasmussen, Aunt March/Mrs. Kirk (Gold Cast)
“You can’t let this defeat you. I won’t let it defeat you.” I think that line really encapsulates the human experience on earth. We live in a fallen world, and we’re going to experience grief…but I truly believe we have hope because our God is with us.
We had a lot of loss in our cast this show…but we had people who put their arms around each other and prayed for each other and were there for each other in a beautiful way. That, I think, is the story of “Little Women.”
—Aviya Wadsager, Jo March (Blue Cast)
“Little Women” takes place during the Civil War era…but instead it chooses to focus on this household. And, you know, if we reflect that to our time now, there’s so much going on in the world, so many crazy things, but we can’t lose sight of what’s here. We can’t lose sight of our communities, our friends, our families because if we do, what’s left, right?
—Malachi Fox, John Brooks (Gold Cast)
