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The Calm Down, Dear series of bold feminist theatre continues to deliver at the Camden People’s Theatre, and last night I was fortunate enough to see Lauren Silver and Helen Foster present a work-in-progress of their show, (Silly) Little Women.

Rather than the finished article, the show was presented as a series of short scenes. Far from feeling disjointed or lacking in narrative structure, this was actually very enjoyable and gave the production the feel of a slightly wacky sketch show. As the title suggests, the show re-examines Little Women (and other classic stories that put sisters at the heart) and skilfully plays on the slightly ridiculous representation of women throughout literary history.

While I can’t give a review of the final output, here are a couple of things I can tell you about (Silly) Little Women with absolute confidence:

The play features some very funny and talented women who absolutely filled the minimalist stage with energy and warmth, and who you can’t help but feel you would rather like to be friends with

The play will definitely make you laugh; I had my fair share of giggles as well as quite a few laugh out loud moments. I couldn’t quite put a ‘laughs per minute’ quota on this, but it certainly delivered plenty of chuckles in a relatively short time

I’ll never think about an onion in quite the same way again

Calm Down, Dear runs until Sunday 16th June at the Camden People’s Theatre, so there’s still time to get in on the action. As far as (Silly) Little Women goes, I’ll be waiting eagerly for the final show to open, as there’s no way I’m missing that! https://www.cptheatre.co.uk/production/silly-little-women/

Reviewer: Zoe Meeres

Reviewed: 9th June 2019

North West End Rating: ★★★★ (Work in Progress)