Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is so beloved a morsel of American literary optimism that it would be hard to do badly with an adaptation of the 1868 novel. And there have been numerous ones, from films to an opera and a musical.

But rather than present just another adorable depiction of the March sisters, 2nd Story Theatre has come up with quite a novel take, thanks to Bob Colonna's direction of his imaginative adaptation (through December 11).

It's being billed as a special holiday event, since the story begins with an act of typical kindness: one Christmas morning their mother Margaret, whom they call Marmee (Rae Mancini), learns that a nearby destitute family has nothing to eat, and the girls willingly give up their holiday breakfast, marching down the road with their steaming Christmas gifts.

Colonna's thoughtful staging allows for a striking and entertaining image from that freezing family's home, which being incidental is normally never depicted: the children's heads, all in a shivering row, blanket pulled to chins. That works because it takes hardly more than a finger snap of time before the ensemble reassembles into a new configuration.

What keeps this production so lively is that flexibility. As announced on a banner before the action begins, with the cast milling about and chatting, this is a community theater presentation "of selected passages" of the novel, with Miss Alcott herself (Elise Arsenault) occasionally narrating and playing cameo bits. Proceeds are to benefit the Concord School of Philosophy (the Rev. Mister Bronson Alcott, Founder).

Although there are plenty of long, fully developed scenes, especially in the second act, the staging device propels the action with brief exchanges when longer ones aren't required. Beth (young, Kimberly Dalton; older, Erin Sheehan) has a passion for music, which is established when we first see her with a worn paper and box-cardboard piano keyboard on her lap. Feisty, hot-tempered Jo (Sara D'Angelos, Kristina Drager), mutters,"I can't get over my disappointment at not being a boy," and we have her pegged. Oldest daughter Meg (Sophie Cram, Allison Crews), 16 at the beginning, is the beauty of the lot and the most responsible. Amy (Patricia Kinnane, Valerie Westgate) is the youngest and most childish, blossoming into the most fun-loving when they get older. The actors switch in the second act, the time transition being that their mother is still away nursing their father, a chaplain wounded in the Civil War.

Meg and Jo, being the two oldest, are the first to enter fine society, their introduction being a neighbor's dance. Not being as sociable as her sister, Jo remains a wallflower until she is rescued by an equally nervous Theodore Laurence (Evan Kinnane, Nicholas Thibeault), who is called Laurie. He is in the care of his wealthy grandfather and, with no more than the old man for company, he becomes attached to Jo as a friend. Putting aside her antisocial pose, Jo is fascinated by the unpretentious 16-year-old world traveler and his milieu. (She gazes around in awe in his grandfather's library as the ensemble turns into furniture and books.)

The ensemble also comes in handy when little Amy finds herself on thin ice: claps indicate the ice is cracking and clawing at her legs shows her sinking into the water. Jo rescues her, and the near-death experience makes it easier to forgive Amy for, in a fit of pique, having thrown Jo's unfinished novel into the fire.

Such family dramatics. They even include Beth getting scarlet fever from a baby that died in her lap. But it's the romances of the March sisters that involve them the most. Jo intends to be a writer and insists she will never marry, which would slow her down. But after turning down one proposal, when she goes to a big city to do some trivial writing for newspapers, she does develop feelings for Prof. Bhaer (Alex Duckworth), an older man who was teaching her German. Amy, who is given delightful vivacity by Westgate, ends up marrying someone who never took her seriously when they were younger. And pretty Meg, who could have parlayed her looks into a wealthy match, ends up marrying a poor tutor.

Those sweet March girls. Still models for us all.

The Holidays are upon us, 'tis the season of giving and sharing. Now playing at 2nd Story Theatre in Warren is a very special gift to the community, "Little Women", Louisa May Alcott's beloved tale of four sisters embarking upon life's journey. Bob Colonna adapted the story for the stage and has directed this production and the results are sheer sweetness. Under his guidance the production of "Little Women" at 2nd Story is nothing less than a good old fashioned heart warmer and the delights that it offers are both subtle and satisfying.

It is no easy feat to adapt a novel for the stage, especially a story so steeped into our collective consciousness, the pleasure one derives from reading and remembrance does not always translate. But there is a certain roughhewn magic at work in this production as director Colonna uses the concept of memory itself to the show's advantage. Our play takes place, and form, at a backstage setting seemingly as a troupe of Victorian players are preparing to perform the play. At the outset we see these little women assembled around an old steamer trunk. As they engage each other it is as is they are pulling together the pieces of their lives as easily as one might pull old clothes from the trunk, creating their little world from sawdust and thin air.

Director Colonna is well aided in this conjuring trick by the extraordinary cast of young people that he has assembled. Two casts of children perform on alternate nights, the blue cast and the grey cast, at the preview I attended the blue cast performed. The children were absolutely delightful, each were adept at holding their own in the presence of more seasoned performers and, more importantly, creating vivid and believable characters onstage, speaking their lines truthfully, earnestly and without a trace of artifice.

This is especially true of Tiverton's Patricia Kinnane who portrays Young Amy, she was an absolute natural onstage; she was not only thoroughly delightful, her vivid presence made for an utterly believable transition for the character's portrayal by the vivacious Valerie Westgate in Act Two, one could readily believe that each actress were aspects of the same person. And, yes, she's the younger sister of 2nd Story actor Evan Kinanne, who makes for a stalwart and dashing suitor as Young Laurie, this is a family that possesses some seriously talented genes!

Sara D'Angelos offers up a strong and genuine portrayal as Young Jo and in the role seems wise beyond her years. There is an inner strength that seems to radiate from this young actress in the role. Sophie Cram creates a true sense of self-sacrifice as Young Meg and Kimberly Dalton is a heartbreaker portraying Young Beth.

The Grey cast features Ellie Ryan of Barrington as Young Meg, Read Ruddick of Warren as Young Amy, Peyton Buteau of Barrington as Young Laurie, Molly Coogan of Barrington as Young Beth, and Kathryn Woods of Portsmouth as Young Jo.

Watching lovingly over the action and providing occasional narration is the presence of our story's author Louisa May Alcott. Bristol native Elise Arsenault portrays Louisa May and she seems born to play the writer simply because every little look from her speaks volumes. Throughout the show the hopes and fears of her young characters are subtly and compellingly displayed upon her features and onstage she constantly seems to be as thoroughly invested in their young lives as a benevolent guardian angel.

Though not that much older than the onstage little women Ms. Arsenault possesses a resume that belies her years. She was a senior at Mount Hope High School when 2nd Story opened it's doors in Warren 10 years ago, since then Elise has earned a BA in interdisciplinary studies, Music/Theater, from George Mason University, performed in regional theatres in the DC area, Improv theatres in NYC, and toured around the country as an actor/director with the Missoula Children's Theater. Ms. Arsenault has been performing at 2nd Story since 2010 and spent this past summer in Oxford with the British/American Drama Academy. I'm frankly exhausted just writing about her.

In addition to acting in "Little Women" Elise is serving a Assistant Director for the children of the show. Recently we had a little chat about "Little Women" and we spoke about all things Alcott. It must be fun, I asked, to combine your two passions, teaching and acting, in this show?

"It is rewarding to work as both a teacher and performer", Ms. Arsenault replies, "in fact, my first gig out of college was tour actor & director with the Missoula Children's Theatre. As part of a two-person team I would direct and perform with 50 to 60 children at schools in Anytown USA! This production is the closest experience I've had to that. I love narrating "Little Women" as Louisa because onstage I receive the energy from the young actors and throw tat ball right back to them. I find that since I've become a teacher I'm a better performer. My parents are both life long educators and I've learned a ton from them."

How long, I wondered, have you wanted to be an actor? "At least since the age of 5", Elise continues, "I remember being at Elementary school explaining to my mom that I needed to get an agent, audition for commercials, etc. Her wise advice was that I should go to college first then I could pursue whatever I liked. But after playing Alice in a 5th Grade production of "Alice in Wonderland" there was no turning back!"

Please describe what it is like to work with RI theatre legend Bob Colonna, who has so marvelously devised and directed this adaptation of "Little Women"? "What I love most about Bob", says Ms. Arsenault, "is that he gives actors the freedom to explore. Bob has a great talent for speaking directly to the audience as a performer, and as a director he has challenged us to channel that ability. We are lucky to have 2nd Story so close to home and I love that I have been challenged by both Bob Colonna and Ed Shea to find my voice and grow as a performer. Storytelling is at the heart of our production and I think that audiences will be in for a treat!"

Indeed. Christmas won't be Christmas without presents, as Jo grumbles in the very first line of the story, but we in the East Bay have a real gift in the presence of Elise Arsenault as Louisa May Alcott and of all the talented youngster who have brought the March sisters to such vibrant life.

"Little Women" isn't really a Christmas story. But there's enough holiday cheer found among its pages to qualify as a seasonal must-see. At least that's the case with the stage adaptation by Bob Colonna that's playing Warren's 2nd Story Theatre through December 11.

It's a handsome show, one that feels like a piece of theatre and not a rehashed novel. Colonna, who is also directing this fine production sets a brisk pace and spices up the long narrative with some welcome moments of humor.

Alex Duckworth,who is so sweet as the aged German professor who falls for Jo, the writer among the March girls, was a hoot as the stern mustachioed teacher who forces young Amy March to toss her stash of forbidden limes out the window.

And there was also a nifty silent movie gag as stagehands are moving props that is pure Colonna.

If I were to categorize the show, I'd call it a family coming-of-age story, a charmer of a play that follows four sisters from bright caring youngsters who give their Christmas breakfast to a poor family in the neighborhood, to complex young women who now have careers and men in their lives. It certainly attracted a young crowd Sunday.

There are essentially two casts for the show, the children who appear in Act 1, and their grown-up selves who adult lives begin to jell in the second act. All the kids are terrific, but who couldn't help but take to petite Patricia Kinnane as sassy Amy, the youngest of the brood. I've lost track of how many Kinnane kids there are, but several have been in 2nd Story productions and they have all been impressive. Even older brother Evan, who is something of a 2nd Story veteran by now, was in the cast as young Laurie, the boy next door.

But Patricia not only spit out her lines with confidence, she had an attitude and personality to spare.

Sara D'Angelos also stood out as the young Jo, the writer in the clan, who was obviously based on Alcott. As she matures, she is replaced by Kristina Drager, who plays the mature Jo as a conflicted, fiercely independent soul.

Elise Arsenault, as Alcott, serves as a sort of narrator, who slips in and out of the action, keeping us abreast of the latest happening in the March family. The play opens on Christmas morning during the Civil War, and Colonna peppers the first few moments of the show with flashes of gun fire.

At the head of the brood is Rae Mancini, as Marmee, as Mrs. March is called. But for much of the play, she is off tending to her sick husband who is at war, leaving the sisters to fend for themselves with the help of Amy Thompson's Hanna.

Once again, 2nd Story has gone with a proscenium and not the familiar in-the-round staging it has become known for. Trevor Elliott has assembled lots of wood and ropes to construct something that looks like a barn, with a set of stairs and a couple of landings.

And Marcia Zammerelli's sumptuous period costumes help make the show a seasonal showcase.

There is nothing intense or edgy about "Little Women." And there are no real surprises. It's just an endearing portrait of four little women who gorw into real women, and the kind of grace and humaneness found along the way.

Generations of readers share such affection for Louisa May Alcott's coming of age story "Little Women" that an adaptation could be full of disappointment.

But fear not, 2nd Story Theatre's current production comes across with all the heart, warmth and high spirits that appealed to the imaginations of readers of the original.

The theater, which has a tradition of choosing what Artistic Director Ed Shea calls life-affirming productions for the holiday season, commissioned Bob Colonna to come up with an original adaptation.

Colonna, best known as an actor both at 2nd Story and Trinity Rep, stays true to the book, down to dialogue taken right from the pages.

Rather than a seamless story, Colonna frames this as a community theater performance.

Vignettes, like chapters in the book, are linked by explanatory narration, often given by an actor playing Alcott herself. It's an effective technique that allows him to hit all the high spots in the story while keeping the production under two hours long.

Audiences meet the March girls - Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy - as they would in the book, with the girls contemplating a Christmas without presents. The story is set in the Civil War era, and with their father off to the fight, times are lean at home.

As the story unfolds, we see tomboyish Jo's determination to put some fun in the life of the studious boy next door, Laurie, and musical Beth's triumph over her shyness when Laurie's wealthy grandfather, Mr. Laurence, invites her to play his piano.

The mix of humor and horror comes across in the scene where Meg's efforts to curl her hair for a big party end in disaster, or when little Amy's intentions of sharing a treat with her school friends ends with the teacher punishing her - but here mother, Marmee, managing to chastice her and take her side at the same time.

Marmee's admission to Jo that she, the saintly mother, struggles with her anger, is performed with just the right sensitivity by actor Rae Mancini and is a scene that underscores the fact that "Little Women" is not saccharine. These 19th century girls and boys can be jealous, spiteful, rebellious and stubborn, just like 21st century kids.

Two catss play the March children and their friend, Laurie, and at Sunday's performance, the "Grey cast" fit the characters well, especially Kathryn Woods as the outspoken Young Jo and Read Ruddick as the self-centered Young Amy.

Peyton Robb Buteau looks and acts as we'd expect Laurie would, and Amy Thompson is entertaining as the stalwart Hannah, the March family's Irish housekeeper.

In Act II, material from what originally was Alcott's "Good Wives," follows with a new cast playing the grownup March sisters. Kristina Drager takes over with conviction as the independent Jo, and Valerie Westgate is all charm as Amy, who has grown less self-absorbed as she has traveled the world - perhaps Alcott's message that travel and education are good things for young women.

The stage is largely bare except for props like chairs and trunks that change with the scenes. At the back is a staircase and raised platform that function in both interior and exterior settings, but the raw wood doesn't convey much about the March family's living conditions. Ron Allen's lighting, however, creates warmth while also providing focus.

This is an appealing "Little Women," but even better, it fires up memories of reading the book for the first time.

This year, add a different show to your Christmas theater circuit, one in which the 25th of December is a mere gateway into a tale about kinship, generosity and good spirit - what the season is really all about.

Rhode Island director Bob Colonna's original stage adaptation of Little Women brings not only the March family to life, but also the nineteenth-century author and suffragist, Louisa May Alcott. Played by a wonderfully matriarchal Elise Arsenault, Louisa May Alcott stands by in the shadows as the actors recite lines from her best-known novel; she pipes in when narration or cameo appearances are necessary. The play is split into two parts: the first, with a young cast of March sisters and their childhood friend, Laurie (which rotates nightly between two sub-casts: the blue and the gray), and the second, with an adult cast of the characters all grown up.

One of the most memorable chapters from the novel translates beautifully on-stage, when the reader/viewer first observes the eldest March sisters, Meg and Jo, playing the role of fine women for a New Year's Eve dance. Essentially everything goes wrong for them - Meg's hair burns off with a hot curling iron and she's wearing shoes that are too small; Jo's gown has a burn mark on the back side; each girl only has one good glove to wear - but they have a grand time anyway.

"I don't believe fine young ladies enjoy themselves a bit more than we do, in spite of our burned hair, old gowns, one glove apiece and tight slippers that sprain our ankles when we are silly enough to wear them," Jo, played by Sara D'Angelos of the blue cast, says. D'Angelos plays a remarkable young Jo, exuding all of her tomboyish tendencies and untamable passion.

Other members of the young cast give shining performances as well: young Amy, played by Patricia Kinnane, has all the sweetness and sass you would expect from the youngest of four girls. A stellar performance also comes from her real-life brother, Evan Kinnane, who plays a shy young Laurie, intelligent but worrisome over his grandfather's expectations. Kimberly Dalton's young Beth is so believably timid, you wish to scoop her up and tell her it will all be okay - until the second act, that is.

Of the adult cast, Kristina Drager's Jo is just as outstanding as her young counterpart: fiery and independent, what every young woman wishes to become.

Most of the major characters, events and ideas transition smoothly into Colonna's adaptation. However one significant scene at the very beginning of the novel, in which the four sisters discuss Christian values through the lens of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, was omitted from the play. In fact, much of the Christian moralizing that appears in the novel was cut from the stage adaptation, allowing some of the warmest moments of forgiveness, anger, sorrow and love to shine fully and completely through the characters without conference with a higher force.

Although the simple set boasts neither Christmas tree nor twinkling lights nor drifting faux snowflakes, Colonna's Little Women might just be the best way to get into the warmest of holiday spirits this season.

Most were first introduced to the antics of the March sisters while completing their high school summer reading. This holiday season Warren's 2nd Story Theatre invites all to fall in love once again with Meg, Amy, Beth and Jo as they present Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.

With most theatres indulging in typical holiday productions, 2nd Story's Artistic Director Ed Shea prefers a more non-traditional route: "It's become a tradition at 2nd Story to offer life-affirming classics during the holiday season." And, at Shea's behest, veteran actor Bob Colonna delivers a very smart, crisp and moving adaptation of Alcott's classic coming-of-age novel.

Presented as a series of stories chronologically detailing the March sisters' experiences with family, loss and love, Colonna lays out a play where scenes seamlessly melt and blend from one to the next. The pacing is quick but easy to follow thanks to some very clever theatre: stage hands ham it up while moving props; framed pictures come to life, offering details from the past; and Elise Arsenault (Louisa May Alcott) establishes a comforting tone while narrating.

Arsenault skillfully propels the action forward while moving about the stage's periphery. She is also hilarious with some priceless facial expressions doubling as the ornery Aunt March.

In keeping with 2nd Story's minimalist but very workable set and stage, Colonna incorporates some clever effects: clapping hands artfully simulate cracking ice; seated actors bounce up and down, accompanied by hoof sounds, to create the illusion of a riding in a horse drawn carriage; and actors, lurching to and fro, mime the act of rowing a boat, eliciting hearty laughter when, accompanied by loud splashing sounds, they fall from their skiff. The performances are especially solid.

In Act I, we meet the March sisters as young children. These early scenes are dominated by the pint-sized Patricia Kinnane (Amy). Whether lamenting her misshapen nose or continually mispronouncing words attempting to sound grown-up, Kinnane stands tall amongst those towering over her.

Long time 2nd Story favorite Rae Mancini (Marmee) projects a very natural easiness as the tender, patient and loving mother, careful to never dominate a scene, serving, rather, as a calming presence.

Act II commences with the young sisters literally passing the stories onto their older counterparts, another clever touch. Here the action and the laughs accelerate, but Colonna always manages to rein things in; as emotions veer from loss to heartache to happiness, he resists the urge to succumb to undue sappiness or clicheés.

Kristina Drager (Jo) comes across as more strong-willed and independent than tomboyish, as depicted by her younger persona. Her emotions are real and raw compounded by the confusion and angst she experiences stubbornly fighting the urge to fall in love.

As Jo's relentless suitor, Nicholas Thibeault (Laurie) ably matches Drager's intensity. One feels his frustration when ultimately rebuked by Jo, but feels his joy upon finding love with Amy. Thibeault, who plays multiple roles, proves to be the most animated and theatrical of the troupe without ever going over the top.

Alex Duckworth (Professor Bhaer) also has some fine moments finally penetrating Jo's hardened exterior. His spot-on German accent and aw-shucks, understated manner make him irresistible.