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Synopsis What happens in a fairytale if the story takes the wrong turn in the woods? The Brothers Grimm meet panto with a twist. A childless baker and his wife live under the spell of a witch. In order to lift the spell they must bring the witch a cow as white as milk, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a slipper as pure as gold. On their quest they stumble across a world of familiar fairy tale characters creating confusion and chaos!
Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods is being given a unique outdoor performance this summer at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. One of Sondheim’s most frequently revived musicals, the show is a reworking of Brothers Grimm fairy-tales including Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.
Being produced to celebrate Sondheim's 80th birthday, the show is funny, dark and immensely popular. This production of Into The Woods is directed by Timothy Sheader, the artistic director of the Open Air Theatre with musical direction of the unseen band by Gareth Valentine. The alfresco location in Regent's Park and fantastical set full of ladders and staircases, designed by Soutra Gilmour, give a wonderful backdrop for this story of a magical woodland.
Into The Woods opened on 16 August 2010 (previews from 6 August) and runs until 11 September. Did Sondheim's fairytale musical leave the critics happy "Ever After" or watching in "Agony"?
Heather Neill on Whatsonstage.com (four stars) - “Sondheim’s witty, sideways tribute to Grimm and Perrault might have been written to be presented here on a balmy August evening… Director Timothy Sheader and Musical Director Gareth Valentine have conjured a magical production which mixes playfulness with irony and just enough sentiment to bring a tear or two in the finale, 'Children Will Listen'. The ensemble numbers, especially 'Into the Woods' and 'Ever After', suggest that this is a company having a woodland ball. Beverly Rudd is a plump toughie in a red cloak who is nicely confused by the sexy post-Freudian Wolf played by Michael Xavier: 'I Know Things Now' she warbles, both delighted and scared. Xavier is equally expressive as a dim, philandering Prince with a tendency to skip. Jenna Russell invests the Baker’s Wife with strength and maternal longing and sings like a dream, while Hannah Waddingham, fresh from her triumph in A Little Night Music, statuesque and commanding when revealed as glamorous after all, is simply stunning as the Witch. She can belt out a song when she needs to, but she can also be subtle and craftily funny... This is one of many celebrations of the composer’s 80th birthday. It does him proud.”
Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times (four stars) - “Some shows at the Open Air Theatre struggle with the setting: the swaying trees, the chill breezes, the sudden squeaks and rustles. Not this one. Sondheim’s fairytale fantasy fits perfectly: darkness steals over the theatre, just as it does over the action, making the benign environs of Regent’s Park that little bit sinister. 'The wood is just trees, the trees are just wood,' chirrups Red Riding Hood, glancing nervously at the thickets around her. It’s the ideal setting for this sharp take (music and lyrics by Sondheim, book by James Lapine) on Grimm and on the symbolic role of the woods as a place of uncertainty, fear and temptation… Timothy Sheader’s production looks great. Soutra Gilmour’s costumes nod towards Tim Burton, and her ingenious set, a maze of raised wooden walkways and ladders, frames the action beautifully. It’s a design that suits the setting, but also matches the shape of the show, with its multiple, intersecting storylines and musical themes.”
Michael Billington in the Guardian (four stars) - “Of the three shows with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine, this has always been the most popular, and the most problematic. The stock charge is that a punchy first half is followed by a preachy second. Timothy Sheader's dazzling revival solves the difficulty in two ways: by exploiting the scariness of the park after dark, and by seeing the action through the fevered imagination of a boy narrator… Sheader's concept unifies the show and reminds us that fairytales are often a projection of childhood fears… For once, the show seems all of a piece; and the treatment of the woods as a place teeming with Bosch-like figures camouflages the fact that Sondheim's score, although well projected under Gareth Valentine's musical direction, is full of tantalising motifs that rarely develop into a satisfying song... A flawed musical has been intelligently reclaimed as a late-summer night's dream that suggests fantasy is the first refuge of the psychologically damaged.”
Henry Hitchings in the Evening Standard (three stars) – “The challenge posed by this zany, rather didactic work lies in reconciling its elements of darkness, humour, Freudian symbolism and existential poignancy. We may get angst and some moments of pathos, but Timothy Sheader’s interpretation, while stylish and good-looking, suffers from a mixture of stridency, undercooked comedy and patchy singing… At its heart it’s about moral self-discovery and overcoming loneliness. But it’s a heart that only starts to beat after a great deal of flat-footed exposition… A consistent strength is Soutra Gilmour’s design. It resembles a massive climbing frame – all stairways and narrow platforms – and exploits the nocturnal charms of the Regent’s Park setting, especially when the Giant (voiced by Judi Dench) judders into view… The production’s aesthetics invoke Vivienne Westwood, Russell Brand and Tim Burton. It’s a heady mix, indicative of both creative verve and a problematic lack of clarity.”
Charles Spencer in the Telegraph (three stars) – “It is an inspired idea to stage this show in the magical, sylvan surroundings of Regent’s Park, and designer Soutra Gilmour has come up with a marvellously rickety, adventure playground of a set, all ladders, stairs and elevated walkways, with Rapunzel discovered high up in a tree… But in the second half the musical falls apart. James Lapine’s book becomes an increasingly confused mess of plottage, and after a host of characters have been killed off, the big climactic anthem, assuring us that 'No One Is Alone' seems as dishonest as it is trite, offering the kind of schmaltzy Broadway uplift Sondheim usually scrupulously avoids. At three hours this often repetitive show would also benefit from cuts… For all its faults, the strength of the company, Sheader’s witty direction and, above all, the spectacularly-lit woodland location, ensure that this fairy-tale musical casts a pretty potent spell.”
Sondheim’s witty, sideways tribute to Grimm and Perrault might have been written to be presented here on a balmy August evening. Real trees sway gently in the breeze behind Soutra Gilmour’s ladders-and-stairs set with its hundreds of steps and dozens of platforms up to forest-top where Rapunzel lets down her golden tresses. As darkness gathers, nightmare and dream coalesce in James Lapine’s compilation fairytale, narrated by a small runaway boy equipped with a sleeping bag and his story-character toys.
The mysterious wood, from The Wind in the Willows to A Midsummer Night’s Dream and As You Like It, is a life-changing place, the ideal setting for a rite of passage from childhood to the muddle of adult relationships. Lapine’s book intertwines the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, Cinderella, Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk (and cameo appearances by the Three Little Pigs and Snow White) with that of a Baker and his Wife who are desperate for a child. A Witch who has put a spell on them promises to reverse it if they collect a milky-white cow, a cloak as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a golden slipper. She is herself the over-protective mother of Rapunzel, locked by enchantment into creaky limbs and fright-face. All is resolved by the interval, only to unravel again thereafter. If the book is too convoluted, losing the clean, brutal logic of the source stories, its overall themes are clear: cherish children but allow them space to discover life for themselves. And be careful what you wish for: happiness may have a dark side.
Director Timothy Sheader and Musical Director Gareth Valentine have conjured a magical production which mixes playfulness with irony and just enough sentiment to bring a tear or two in the finale, "Children Will Listen". The ensemble numbers, especially "Into the Woods" and "Ever After", suggest that this is a company having a woodland ball.
Beverly Rudd is a plump toughie in a red cloak who is nicely confused by the sexy post-Freudian Wolf played by Michael Xavier: "I Know Things Now" she warbles, both delighted and scared. Xavier is equally expressive as a dim, philandering Prince with a tendency to skip. Jenna Russell invests the Baker’s Wife with strength and maternal longing and sings like a dream, while Hannah Waddingham, fresh from her triumph in A Little Night Music, statuesque and commanding when revealed as glamorous after all, is simply stunning as the Witch. She can belt out a song when she needs to, but she can also be subtle and craftily funny.
The young Narrator was played on press night by Eddie Manning, taking the stage with nerveless conviction. His graphic miming of the entire story in the last minutes, explaining his absence to a worried father, was a spectacle in itself. And the Giant - Judi Dench’s booming recorded voice matched with thunderous “footsteps” and an ingenious assemblage of what might have been bicycle wheels, lamps and umbrellas - is fabulous in every sense.
This is one of many celebrations of the composer’s 80th birthday. It does him proud.
Agree with all the positive comments -and we were blessed on Saturday with an unexpectedly warm evening. My only gripe-at the risk of being churlish given the excellent staging and music-is that I thought the male parts (except for the princes) were weak and unlike the previous commentator, we found the young boy impossible to hear from the first row of the tiered section.
- dch
24 Aug 10
Theatre doesn't get much better than this.
A Sondheim classic, very brilliantly directed, in a perfect setting, with some breakout performances.
Fantastic. I'm so glad I caught this production. So glad. - donald
23 Aug 10
Genius to have the narrator played by a child. It worked brilliantly and who ever the lad was on Saturday last, 21st of August, he was terrific, full of confidence and with all that running up and down the scaffold to do as well, going here there and everywhere with props galore, it would daunt an old pro let alone a child! I found the sound level a little too low which made the dialogue non too easy to hear and took the edge off some of the numbers. But I have to disagree with David Baxter in this column - there are stunning numbers in Into the Woods - Children Will Listen, Agony, Stay With Me, Your Fault and the heart wrenching No One Is Alone - oh I should have just listed them all because there's still Your Fault, It Takes Two, No More etc, etc, etc. It looked wonderful, the cast had amazing work to do just moving around the set and some of them, the witch and the prince, had the dubious pleasure of being hauled up on wires too. It is a long sit, the first act is almost 1.30hrs but it's worth it. It is hard to connect with an audience performing in such a large space and having to be spread all over an immense scaffold that is the stage and to some extent it didn't happen. However, if you love the music and Sondheim's brilliant word play then you will forgive a lot. I loved it. - rds
23 Aug 10
It's difficult to imagine how Into the Woods could be staged better than amongst the trees in Regents Park. The stage has disappeared completely, replaced by a series of ladders and platforms. The technicalities of the sound design must have been immense as characters pop up all over the place, including 30 feet up a tree, but the voices always come from those specific spots. Although the show was very enjoyable, mostly thanks to James Lapine's ingenious book, it did confirm my ambivalence towards Sondheim. The score is very repetitive and often unmelodic with "clever clever" refrains and lyrics and you end up craving a real song with genuine emotion and heart. Also, as with Sunday in the Park With George, it could easily have ended at the interval as Act Two is an almost entirely different show. I am still not a Sondheim convert but Timothy Sheader has created an excellent production of a flawed show. - David Baxter
20 Aug 10
Despite the rain, this proved to be a magical production. Although the multi tiered set was impressive I didn't find it distracting and in some ways low key. Apart from a couple of sound issues and a flat transformation scene thought this one of the best ITW I've seen over the years. - James
20 Aug 10
Wonderfully designed with the best giant ever in an ideal setting. Most of the performances were stunning with Micdhael Xavier excelling both in vocal prowess and characterisation. Due to the rain on Tuesday I was fortunate enough to see the first half twice so could really appreciate the ensemble work and imaginative direction. Yes, it is too busy and sometimes it was hard to focus but the exuberance of the cast - especially Red Riding Hood - made it one of the finest musicals I have seen. I left yearning to have singing lessons. - Carrie Cohen
19 Aug 10
a devotee of this particular piece i was cock-a-hoop to get the chance to see it in this splendid, atmospheric setting and wasn't entirely dissappointed. it retains its magic and sheer joy but loses a little in this translation.
the set was, to me, overdone and made it difficult to pick out who was singing when, as often happens in this show, there are multiple characters holding forth. i also thought it a mistake to make cinderella look like an earth-child hippy with coloured dreadlocks (would such a character REALLY allow herself to be enslaved and then married to the local, dim witted Prince?). some of the singing left a little to be desired of a west end show and there were a great many punch lines lost in what seemed a confused and slightly uneasy first half.
but it was made up for by the second half and overall, i came out feeling invigorated, delighted and moved but with the feeling if they had concentrated as much on the heart and emotions of the piece as they appeared to do on the costumes and set, it might have appeared less style, more substance.
- weso
18 Aug 10
It's hard to imagine a piece of theatre which uses the unique magic of the Open Air theatre as well as this one does. Though a long piece, it's very pacy with the multi-layered set used imaginatively and, in some cases, bravely. A great ensemble cast which will only get better through the run. Don't miss! - dgr1
18 Aug 10
Saw the production last night. What a magical setting; my first visit to the Open Air and it was wonderful as the light faded and the story got darker. I did see the original Phoenix Theatre production all those years ago but have few memories of it so was coming to see this afresh and really enjoyed it.
Aside from the magical setting there are some fabulous performances - I loved Michael Xavier and Simon Thomas as the Prince's. Their Agony was excellent. Hannah Waddingham was in great form as The Witch, a hugely impressive performance. The lovely Jenna Russell was once again in her element doing Sondheim, this time as the Bakers Wife, a part which suits her perfectly.
As Sondheim season in London really gets into full swing, this is a great producion to whet the appetite - next stop Passion..... :-) - Paul Wallis
This open air theatre is only open May to early-September and there is no cover in case of rain. 1187 seats (plus 60 on the grass). Current auditorium since 1975. Member of the Society of London Theatre. Renovated after the 1999 season to include improved facilities.
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