A modern adaptation of “Little Women” will hit the stage at the Mosesian Center for the Arts from Feb. 5 to March 1. The Actors’ Shakespeare Project production is being directed by Watertown’s Shana Gozansky.
Gozansky makes her debut with Actors’ Shakespeare Project (ASP) directing playwright Kate Hamill’s adaptation of the novel by Louisa May Alcott.
“I’ve been calling it kind of a jazz riff because, to me, the play almost feels like using the story of ‘Little Women’ to explore the birth of Louisa May Alcott as a writer. And so it really blurs the line between Jo and Alcott as individuals,” Gozansky said. “One thing that I really love about it, is it really uses ‘Little Women’ as the source material and the inspiration, but it feels very fueled by Alcott’s life experience as someone who maybe didn’t fit into the paradigm of femininity at that time. And so it’s very playful at times, very silly, and at times just a very meaningful exploration of the characters that we know and love.”
Gozansky has not seen the most recent film adaptation by Greta Gerwig.
“So if it bears any resemblance, it’s purely by zeitgeist,” she said, adding. “I think everyone who adapts ‘Little Women’ is doing it through the lens of what pulls them in and makes them curious about the story itself and what themes they want to pull out. And I think for Kate Hamill, a lot of those themes have to do with belonging and feeling a sense of being an outsider, but wanting to be accepted, and the navigation of authenticity and a world where maybe that authenticity comes with a cost. And I think that’s really what Hamill is kind of exploring, versus maybe what a filmmaker, Greta Gerwig, is exploring.”
Working on a production in her hometown is a nice change for Gozansky, who has worked all over, including for the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, the Stoneham Theatre, the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Trinity Repertory Company, The Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca, New York, as well as colleges in the Boston area.
“I’m a freelance director, so I’m sort of all over the place, but this is my first time working with (Actors’ Shakespeare Project), and it does feel especially meaningful that my first time working with them is also their first full season here in Watertown,” Gozansky said.
Gozansky and her husband moved to the Boston area in 2012, and spent a couple years in Somerville.
“When I was pregnant, we moved out of Somerville to Watertown and have not looked back since. We really, really love it here,” Gozansky said. “It feels like a very exciting time to be in Watertown, especially having a kid who started in the original Hosmer building and then in second grade went into the new Hosmer building. So, with the new high school, we feel very lucky, and have really found an incredible community of parents and educators here. We just feel really lucky and delighted to have landed here.”
In theater a triple threat is someone who can act, sing and dance. Gozansky is a different kind of triple threat, weaving in writing and parenting with directing.
Gozansky offers one-on-one and group parent coaching sessions.
“I support parents through mentorship and coaching, which grew out of just being a parent and being a director and fiercely believing in parenting as a practice and something that requires a lot of support,” Gozansky said.
She also writes children’s books, including a series of art books for kids published by Phaidon that was picked as one of Oprah’s Favorite Things on OprahDaily.com.
“My Art Book of Peace, comes out this spring. It’s available for pre-order now,” she said. “And I have a book with a different publisher that will be announced and coming out soon. I can’t say anything about it yet, because it hasn’t been announced yet.”
Gozansky started writing children’s books after she had a child, but she hadn’t planned to.
“After I had a kid this amazing editor named Cecily Kaiser approached me,” she said.
Gozansky minored in art history, and Kaiser thought that Gozansky would be good for taking on books of art for early readers.
“I just discovered that I really love writing for early readers. I think it’s very challenging,” Gozanksy said. “It looks really simple when you read it, but it’s actually incredibly hard to write in a way that is digestible for an early reader and enjoyable for a parent or a grown up simultaneously.”
She gets to choose the artwork featured in the books. After she picks the pieces the publisher tries to get rights to use it. Sometimes they don’t work out, but other times she “takes a big swing” and is surprised when it gets approval. She has also been able to pick some lesser known artists to include in her books.
“I’m a real art nerd. There’s an artist, an Italian artist, whose work I fell in love with over Instagram, and I was able to include her work in one of the books, which was so fun and exciting,” Gozansky said.
Find out more about “Little Women” at by clicking here, and about Gozansky’s books and parent coaching at shanagozansky.com.