SIMPLE, TRUE AND LOVELY – Mulwaree High School

SIMPLE, TRUE & LOVELY
Mulwaree High School
Adapted from “Little Women” by Louise May Alcott
Written by Michelle McAleer
Directed by Michelle McAleer

It’s a daunting task. Tackling an oft-told and well-loved story with the hope of finding something new or different in it. That’s the assignment taken on by playwright and director Michelle McAleer in “Simple, True and Lovely,” her adaptation of Lousia May Alcott’s “Little Women”.

And oft-told it is. The original novel was written over 150 years ago. There have been seven film adaptations, nine mini series, two musicals, two operas, five audio plays AND at least a dozen loose literary adaptations and homages (including the pointedly titled “Little Vampire Women“).

So, yeah. Daunting.

Part of the daunt relates to to what story-telling choices you make. You could choose a flat- out carbon copy of the original, leaving nothing new in the experience. You could choose a dramatically reworked and wildly different version, retaining little of the thematic and stylistic integrity and sweetness of the source. Or you could do something else.

In McAleer’s hands, that something else is a loving piece, equally an homage to the identifiable characters and themes of the original but told through a novel story-telling frame in which the characters (mostly Jo) occasionally step out of their role as a participant and character and break the fourth wall to pick up the story-telling duties directly to the audience.

It’s a masterful device. The fourth-wall breaking is used sparingly and judiciously, never cheaply or jarringly, allowing the necessary exposition to condense the otherwise lengthy original story, as well as implementing changes in point of view peppered with some fun sisterly interactions each time the POV changes.

The dialog is sweet and rapid-fire with clever wordplay… a little like Gilmore Girls (ok, my wife made me watch every episode… at least twice… and now that I’m saying that the term “made me” seems a bit hard to sustain) although tonally quite different to the girls of Gilmore. There is a LOT of dialog for the cast to remember but remember it they do, and not just remember it, but execute it like a finely tuned and orchestrated team gymnastic manouevre dependent on precision timing, confidence and team work, passing phrases like batons and catching each other like trapeze artists. At times it’s breath taking.

I haven’t seen many of these young actors (seven in total) before, which doesn’t mean a lot as I’m not at all encyclopedic in my knowledge of local performers, but I was dumbfounded by just HOW good they were without (many of them) having led other previous productions. You see one local show, and then another company, and then another production and yet more and more amazing talent continues to step up. While I hadn’t seen many of these young (little?) women before, it’s a safe bet we’ll see many of them again and again.

They each play multiple characters, male and female, and imbue the production with their enthusiastic characterisations. McAleer has an embarrassment of acting talent at her disposal in this show and gets the very best out of all of them and, while I suspect she could get an admirable performance out of a room full of mannequins, this show works because of how well these actors perform.

The original novel is described as a coming of age story, and I guess it still is although that’s possibly an overly broad and slightly archaic term. It IS about young women coming into their own and following the own particular paths, but it incorporates concepts of poverty and sacrifice, societal expectations on women, love, discovery and growth, work, ambition and family.

While the March’s are not as frenetic and fractious and fictionally ramped up as the supposed reality of the Kardashians, this story instead explores and reflects the genuinely real and still current questions and choices being confronted by young women, including these very actors and their peers in their real lives today. What is my worth as a woman in society? What choices must I make in terms of career and family? In giving to others, how do I maintain room for me? Who am I?

And I think the reason this novel, and even moreso this adaptation, is so endearing is that it embraces simplicity, kindness and … well… niceness unironically and affectionately. It’s not adversarial and confronting, but demonstrates instead that through the trials and tribulations and disagreements of life at those tender times of transition, and even beyond, that there can be respect and gratitude and overwhelming fondness. This story is in part an antidote to the avalanche of stories of confrontation, aggression and division we are regularly confronted by. I make no bones about saying it may not be for everyone, especially those raised on a diet of repeated dramatic confrontations and endorphin-enriched climaxes. But its value lies elsewhere.

This is McAleer’s second directorial turn this year, the other being Never Closer with Bladwell productions. She is clearly a gifted director who creates great environments for her cast(s) to feel encouraged and supported to do great work. Her set design and costuming choices were simple and effective and once again her musical choices were absolutely on point (which is probably code for “she picks songs I like so she must be good”).

I was particularly moved by the subtlety of what was shown rather than explicitly told in Beth’s last piano performance and also by Jo’s final absorption of and farewell to her world within the set. Tender moments elevated by good direction.

Goulburn is going through something of a playwriting purple patch at the moment. Maybe there’s something in the water or perhaps it’s part of an overall local performing arts renaissance, but may it long continue, I say.

This year alone, we have been treated to new works by David Cole and Cara Robinson, and an adaptation by Deb McConnell. And now this piece. While I particularly liked Jo’s questioning of what is a writer when the words disappear, or when you can’t find your own voice, these are not problems McAleer has found with this script.

The title of the play refers to a line spoken to Jo by Professor Friedrich Bhaer, exhorting her to focus on writing that is Simple, True and Lovely. It’s a pretty good summary of what McAleer has achieved here. It’s Simpler than many more edgy and confrontational shows, the relationships, concerns, questions and love in the story ring true, and its subtlety and nuanced story telling is all the more lovely for it. For some it may be a change of pace, and that alone might be a good reason to consider it.

If it sounds condescending to say a show seems better than a school performance, I’m sorry. But this one does does.

Well done Mulwaree High.

Well done cast and crew.

Well done writer and director.

Goulburn Performing Arts Centre

• Friday, 21 November 2025 | 07:30 PM – 09:15 PM
• Saturday, 22 November 2025 | 02:00 PM – 04:45 PM
• Saturday, 22 November 2025 | 07:30 PM – 09:15 PM