Little Women is part of The Stories We Tell Season, which accounts for my observation about the plays which are based on novels in the introduction to my review.

The season celebrates works that have reflected the experiences of individuals and, in keeping with that ethos, Grand Theatre’s Learning and Engagement team has been working with two young women from Leeds to launch By The Book.

The ‘little women’ involved read the novel and reflected on its themes and characters before coming together to create original visual art inspired by the story. Luckily for us, their resultant artwork was displayed in the press bar. Not only that, but the artists were there in person to elaborate on their magnificent efforts.

When I saw the collage I was curious as to what some of the elements meant, because, as I explained in my full article, I have never read the tome myself. I was soon enlightened, so much so that I decided to do something original here and dedicate a piece of music to the dynamic duo.

My eye was taken by the two circular images which I referred to as Trivial Pursuit pies, but was soon, very politely, corrected and informed that they were slices of lime, which the girls in the book had smuggled into an event where they were forbidden. Their interpretation brought back a song from one of my heroes, the late, great Harry Chapin, and the more I thought about it later, the more relevant it became. Mr Chapin was active in the 1970s and early 80s before being killed in a road accident, and his attitude to life reflected that of Marmee and the girls’ at Christmas, when they gave their breakfasts away to the hungry children in the town. He founded a charity called World Hunger Year and donated the whole of the takings from every alternate concert to this organisation to provide food for those starving around the world. This was long before Band Aid and Live Aid. The song itself echoes the attitude to the use of colour in painting, so a double whammy.

Before I share the link, the artists had also devised a questionnaire which I agreed to answer, after I checked that it didn’t involve giving my bank details and passwords. From the information I did disclose, it was revealed that my character trait corresponded most closely with Jo, which was pretty appropriate as she was a writer and had lost her hair, although in her case, deliberately.

To read more about the inspiration to By The Book please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/news-views-stories/international-book-giving-day/

For more information about Learning and Engagement please see their Summer 2025 Newsletter https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/learning-and-engagement-newsletters/learning-and-engagement-newsletter-summer-2025/

Details of the remainder of The Stories We Tell season it is https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/the-stories-we-tell-2025/

To hear the song it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qrbNygL0YU Enjoy and keep seeing what you see.

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