Timothy Powell
TH 210-01
Dr. Malkin

In the play Into the Woods the fairy tales of Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk are brought together and intertwined with the story of a Baker and his wife. The play takes place mainly in the woods where the characters lives become more and more intertwined with one another as they attempt to carry out their own fairy tale destinies. Throughout the production a host of unforgettable songs characterizes each mythical and picturesque scene.

In the first Act we are introduced to all the characters and their dilemmas: a dreamy eyed Jack who is being forced by his domineering mother to sell their white cow; an overworked and under appreciated Cinderella who would just like the opportunity for a little something better; a cursed baker and his barren wife who must gather up a set of enchanted items in order to lift the spell and satisfy a haggardly witch; and an obnoxiously cute Little Red Riding Hood off to take bread to her ailing granny. As the play continues it is the baker and his wife who impose upon the lives and stories of the others in a desperate attempt to gather the right items. It is in this act we also learn of the witches estranged and isolated daughter Rapunzel and that of the two princely brothers, whose royal charm and pomp is only to be surpassed by their arrogance. By the end of the first act everyone winds up well off: Jack can keep his cow, the Bakers wife is very pregnant, the witch has her beauty restored, Little Red gets a new wolf skin cloak and both Cinderella and Rapunzel both get their respective princes. In Act 2 the mood of the play shifts as all of the characters are forced to deal with a menacing giant who wants to avenge her husbands' death. As the act continues the simplicity of their fairy tale lives gives way to their more complicated feelings that lead them to question the validity of their "happy" endings from before. In the end the small band that is left successfully work together to entrap and slay the giant.

The production is really about discovering the truth of fairy tales. In this, Sondheim & Lapine are attempting to dive down deeper into the real meanings underlying each of the fairy tales presented. As can be seen from the second act all is not well that ends well and characters certainly don't wind up living happily ever after. The play cuts through the superficial premise that fairy tales are simply just children's stories with a simple moral at best, and, exposes them to be more like a complex moral/ ethical roller coaster. Each character must first come to grips with himself; his shortcomings, his imperfections and his wild and ambiguous feelings on different aspects of his life. And just when he thinks he has that figured out he must then come to grips with something larger than himself. The style of the production reflects this in the sharply contrasting characters and musical scores such as when the haggardly witch and the beautiful Rapunzel have a special moment of true mother-daughter love.

The sets were quite impressive. Noted among these were the hollowed out tree trunk that Cinderella's fairy god mother appears in, showing both innovative design and craftsmanship, and, the design of the woods themselves, which upon closer inspection have images of the characters carved into them revealing the sense of entrapment the characters find themselves in. Complimented by the well coordinated lighting, the daytime scenes in the forest seemed to give a sense of realism and yet still capture that artificial aura of a fairy tale. Other positive points included the superb costumes, especially the ball gowns worn by the stepmother, the stepdaughters and later on by Cinderella. The attention to detail and design is worth making mention of. Some things that detracted from the performance included the use of an ambiguous castle prop that never seemed to have a real purpose or function and a remarkably unconvincing voice over for the giant that seemed to hurt more than help the characters performance.

By in large the acting was superior, with the performance given by Jodi Hart-Wilkie playing the role of Jacks mother being the most notable. Her ability to capture the mood and persona of an aging mother on the threshold of poverty who is forced to be the realist of the family is quite convincing. Perhaps the funniest scenes in the production were given by Brian Nutt and Matthew Hanson playing the roles of Rapunzel's and Cinderella's princes (respectively). Their two part song performance of "Agony" was a hilarious characterization of their more unsavory and "unprincely" virtues. Finally, the performance of the song "Your Fault" by Jack, the Baker, the Witch, Cinderella, and Little Red Riding Hood showed remarkable coordination on the part of the actors in effectively handling a song with fairly complicated lyrics and timing.

In my opinion Sondheim & Lapines Into the Woods provides an interesting yet compelling way to interpret fairy tales. Unfortunately the dark and shady underlives of the characters that emerge in the second act are far too extremist and foreign to be taken seriously. In contrast to the first act where we are just presented with the simple side of the characters, the second act comes off as being "tacked on" and artificial as all the characters seem to succumb to their more complex emotional natures with no clear resolution in the end. Although the playwright begins with far reaching vision it falls short of both purpose and meaning when set to the stage and ends with a group of characters whose emotional baggage has crippled them into permanent psychological disarray.