1862: 29-year-old Louisa May Alcott has successfully published some lurid adventure stories. But when challenged to write something more personal, she resists. Recalling how her quirky family had made the optimistic mistake of joining an experimental farm commune when she was an imaginative but rather feral ten-year-old, Louisa reflects on how much she matured, as a person and a writer, as a result of that traumatic but empowering summer among the philosophers at Fruitlands.
Cast:
CHARACTERS: (11 actors: 7 men, 3 women, 1 child)
*All characters are white except Hiram Jones, African-American
**Color-blind casting always recommended
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, 10, precocious, bright & wild
BRONSON ALCOTT, 44, an esoteric philosopher, teacher & father
RALPH WALDO EMERSON, 40, a sage philosopher
HENRY DAVID THOREAU, 26-44, an enigmatic philosopher
JOSEPH PALMER, 54, a progressive farmer & father
NANCY PALMER, 58, a spirited wife & mother
HIRAM JONES, 38, a diligent farmhand, formerly enslaved
CHARLES LANE, 43, a charismatic British reformer
WOOD ABRAHAM, 35, an eccentric farmhand
ABBY ALCOTT, 43, wife, mother & activist
SHERIFF (played by Thoreau)
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, 29, a vivacious writer
