Louisa May Alcott’s Historic Home Inspires the Set for Morristown High School Theatre’s “​Little Women”

Morristown, NJ—Preparations continue for Morristown High School Theatre’s upcoming production of Little Women, and while the actors prepare on stage, the award-winning program’s student set designers and builders are hard at work preparing the stage itself with sets that draw inspiration from the historic homes that similarly inspired author Louisa May Alcott’s largely autobiographical novel.

Under the guidance of faculty members George LaVigne (director) and Tara Montague (scenic/technical assistant director), MHS’s student set builders and art designers are hard at work recreating the Alcott family home—Orchard House in Concord, Massachusetts—the neighboring Laurence House, as well as the homes of the Moffatt family and Aunt March, with period-accurate details. The MHS stage cannot fit entire houses, of course, but LaVigne, Montague, and the student build crew have prioritized the important dramatic spaces, using the interiors of the original houses as references.

Louisa May Alcott was clear about the inspiration for her beloved novel: her own life. Accordingly, LaVigne and Montague did not mess around when faced with the monumental task of designing the sets for this dramatic production of Little Women. Every choice Lavigne, Montague, and the students have made has been in homage to the actual spaces where Louisa May Alcott lived and wrote.

After emerging from writing an original adaptation of the beloved novel, with input from the students, LaVigne began sketching the primary set based on Orchard House, the real home of Louisa May Alcott, which the cast and crew lovingly refer to as the “March House.” LaVigne and Montague subsequently researched and created presentations for the student build and art teams with images of the interiors of not only Orchard House but the other original homes that inspired the Laurence House next door and the stately home of the Moffatt family. As for the home of Aunt March, who was based on Alcott’s own Great Aunt—who was married to, of all people, John Hancock—the fabulous but no-longer-standing Hancock House in Boston inspired Plumfield in MHS’s play.

The teams chose wall colors and stencils to accurately recreate the interiors of these homes from late nineteenth century Concord. The art crew painstakingly created pieces of art of the sort that might have actually hung in each house. The build crew built and rebuilt, acquired appropriate furniture, and created realistic spaces, all under the watchful eyes of LaVigne and Montague, who were determined to transport the audience to Concord and Alcott’s world of her little women.

MHS Theatre will present four live performances of Little Women on the Morristown High School stage, including two evening shows and two matinees:

• Friday, November 21 at 7:00 pm
• Saturday, November 22 at 2:00 pm
• Saturday, November 22 at 7:00 pm
• Sunday, November 23 at 2:00 pm

Tickets can be purchased at https://mhs.booktix.com.