Union University’s student-run MainStage Theatre Group presented Little Women on Nov. 5-8, 2026 in the W.B. Powell Theatre.
Director Chloe Benson, a junior elementary education major, used Kevin M. Cunningham’s adaptation of Little Women, which “[captures] the characters, heart and beauty of the story.”
During the four-day production, roughly 575 tickets were sold, with the Friday night show selling out at 195 tickets.
Little Women is Benson’s first show as lead director, though she has served as assistant director for two prior shows and Liv Briggs is a junior digital media communications major, serves as the current assistant director.
“It’s a really unique kind of challenge to lead your peers, and some of it’s very close friends,” Benson said. “So that’s been really fun to figure out how to be a leader in your own age group, and how to encourage people and also be really willing to learn from them.”
Elly Howell, who played Jo March, is a sophomore journalism major and this was her first MainStage appearance and her first ever show.
“Since I have never acted before, it has been such a great opportunity to act with friends and pursue my high school dream of acting,” Howell said. “It has also been a humbling experience, but the director and cast have been really patient and kind to spend time with me.”
Though Howell has enjoyed this experience, she also noted that it’s been a lot to manage with her school assignments.
“It’s been a very fun experience, [but it has also been] a hard experience because MainStage is a big time commitment, but it’s been worth it.”
Howell is thankful for God’s sustaining grace throughout a busy semester.
Faith Chatraw, a sophomore communications studies major attended the Little Women production on Friday night, primarily to see Howell’s performance.
“I wanted to support her, and she’s just such an awesome person,” Chatraw said. “It’s been really fun to watch her perform so far.”
Vivian White, a sophomore public relations major, also went to the Friday show, with it being her first time watching a MainStage production.
“I thought it was fabulous. There were moments where I was totally pulled in and forgot I was watching a play and got over-invested,” White said. “As I’ve met more people who do it, I’ve realized what a big time commitment it is, and so I wanted to go support the people who decide to pour their time and energy into it for all of us.”
The production ran for approximately 2.5 hours with a fifteen-minute intermission. Ultimately, MainStage’s “common purpose” is for the glory of God as each cast member uses their gifts to make much of Christ, a value reflected in their theme verse for the year, 1 Peter 4:10.
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