★★★★☆
Be careful what you wish for’ is the cliché which underpins Sondheim’s Into the Woods. All of the familiar fairy tale characters we grew up with Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack – are interwoven as they pursue their “happily ever afters”.
It’s a magical mixture of serious, dark moments and comic relief which runs counter to the traditional fairy tale narrative in which evil is always vanquished permanently by the magic forces of good and everyone happily retreating to their castles.
The first act sees each of the well-known fairy tales unfold through the addition of a baker and his wife, rendered childless by the curse of an enraged neighborhood witch. Going “into the woods” to appease the witch in their desperation to have a child, they meet the heroes of each fairy tale in along the way.
The first act’s finale sees everyone get their “happily ever after” moment, but Sondheim creates a far darker second act, where the saccharine-sweet choruses of “so happy” that rounded off the first have turned distinctly sour as we hear of domestic discord, infidelity and boredom. It’s a lesson in the perils of chasing a wish, of the true cost of magic.
In the hands of director Laura Day, this production soars. Unfortunately moved from the original outdoor venue at Queen’s due to technical difficulties, the cast adapted very well to the smaller indoor space and reduced orchestra. The choreography and set design, using every inch of a confined set, were both exceptional.
Between the hilarious, power-ballad stylings of Jake Cowling and Nils Behling as princes, and Lydia Cockburn’s Peronesque and sinister stepmother, the cast was on top form. The baker and his wife, played by Alex Bishop and Kathryn Peacock respectively, made an engaging and empathic on-stage couple as they went through joy and sorrow. This was a performance charged with emo- tion and dark comedy, and the cast delivered.
Bernadette Johns brought both passion, and a convincing melancholy, to the role of Cinderella, while Gwenno Jones filled her role as both the naïve and more mature versions of Red Riding Hood with ease. Meanwhile, Jack (Laurence Jeffcoate) and his mother (Eloise Mattimoe) made an excellent double act reminiscent of pantomime. Of particular note was the performance of An- issa Berry, seemingly channelling the spirit of Lady Gaga into the character of the witch as she transitions from a manipulative, un- fair and possessive character into something of a voice of reason as the second progresses. In this dramatic transition, perhaps we can detect undercurrents of third-wave feminist thought.
One of the more interesting aspects of the show itself was the transition into the darker second act – the seemingly happy lives of the protagonists lead some of the audience to believe that the show ends there, and some even tried to leave after the first act. So if you watch the first act of what has proven to be an excellent production, I’d strongly advise against missing the second.
