Little Women Comes to MASTERPIECE

[nyadrn]

PBS and MASTERPIECE have announced they will team with Colin Callender’s Playground and the BBC for a television adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age classic, Little Women. The three-part drama will be scripted by Heidi Thomas, well-known to PBS audiences for her acclaimed adaptations of Call the Midwife and Cranford. Vanessa Caswill (Thirteen, My Mad Fat Diary) will direct all three hours. Playground’s Golden Globe-winning adaptation of Wolf Hall aired on MASTERPIECE in 2015.

“There are only a handful of American books that have resonated with readers for as long as Little Women,” said Rebecca Eaton, MASTERPIECE executive producer. “To put this deeply moving story in the hands of a writer with the heart and depth of Heidi Thomas seems just right. And Colin Callender will oversee this production with the magic he brings to everything he touches, whether its Wolf Hall or the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, currently selling out in London.” MASTERPIECE is presented on PBS by WGBH Boston.

Loved by generations of women worldwide, Little Women is a truly universal coming of age story, as relevant and engaging today as it was on its original publication in 1868. Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, the story follows sisters Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March on their journey from childhood to adulthood. With the help of their mother, Marmee, and while their father is away at war, the girls navigate what it means to be a young woman: from sibling rivalry and first love, to loss and marriage.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/little-women-comes-to-masterpiece/

[ck4565370]

This presentation of "Little Women" was excellent in the beginning, but the end of the story was shortened and crammed together.  A lot was left out in the end and if you hadn't read the book you probably didn't really understand what had happened.

[ASTRAEA]

@ck4565370 - Yes, the final scene seemed to have jumped ahead several years, and just "wrapped up" what happened to everyone with a sentence or two.

[catwoman500]

I was also a little confused at the ending until one of my friends explained that the part about Jo and her husband opening the school actually takes place in Alcott's other book, Jo's Boys. So there was a little "cheating."  N.

[ASTRAEA]

I'll be looking forward to it!

[catwoman500]

Oh, great news! N.

[LaDolceVita]

@catwoman500,@nyadrn,@ASTRAEA

What did you think of it?  I saw bits and pieces and it seemed so simple and fairy tale like that I am not sure I want to delve into it.  I loved the book but that was a long time ago!

[ASTRAEA]

@LaDolceVita, @catwoman500, @nyadrn - I think there's sometimes a problem when we judge characters in a period piece, according to modern standards .. and the women wind up seeming very simplistic to us. I found some of the scenes where the girls are expressing such effusive affection for Marmie at their age strange; girls love their mothers today, but they don't usually gush about it. Or when Jo thinks/wants all of them to stay home together forever, and doesn't like that they'll be getting married & going off to have lives of their own .. just seems very immature, when viewed from a 21st century perspective.

[nyadrn]

Oh my gosh, my sister loved these books and I am sure she will be thrilled about this new production. I am sure it will be pretty well received!