"Little Women" Out Loud, The Christmas Chapter: A Short Play

Come and enjoy a wonderful holiday gift to yourself: the re-enactment of Louisa May Alcott's, Little Women by storytellers Carol Birch and Megan Wells.

The play revolves around the "Christmas" chapter and presents the four March sisters moving from feelings of self-pity to actions of loving kindness. From “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents!” to pooling meager resources so they can surprise their mother with gifts; from feeding a desperately poor family to entertaining neighborhood girls with a melodrama on Christmas evening, all the stories evoke a spirit of togetherness and holiday love. 

“Caring for one another is part of the religion of our sisterhood.” Louisa May Alcott wrote. It’s a lovely evocation of the holiday spirit and offers a satisfying antidote to all that is hectic and raucous during the holiday season. "Little Women Out Loud" bursts the story off the page. Alcott’s presentation of spirited young women altered literature forever and it refreshes spirits to this day. 

Feel the holiday love and leave with your heart full!

About the Presenters

Carol Birch’s style revitalizes language; her art is an absence of artifice. Little Women joins a repertoire of stories that offer memories worth keeping. Her two books and eight recordings received multiple awards. She’s taught storytelling on both coasts at Loyola in California, Wesleyan and Southern Connecticut Universities, and received two grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities. International performances took her to Australia and Singapore, as well as five storytelling tours through Ireland, Scotland and England. 

Megan Wells’ telling is time travel at its best. With exquisite language she takes listeners into deep-mind cinema, bringing worlds alive with passion, Soul and warm humor. A master of the literary tale, as well as long-form myth, Wells is known for her delicious timing, character portrayal, and the theatrical sensitivity she brings to her work.

She holds four national awards, three Chicago theatre awards and tours nationally as a storyteller, historical impersonator, and actress.  After six years of creating new works with the Chicago Symphony, Yo Yo Ma said to Megan Wells, "You rock!"