Theatre review: Into the Woods

When Stephen Sondheim died in 2021 I thought we'd see theatres falling over each other to revive some of his greatest hits, but fair play they've largely taken their time, staging about as much of his work as usual (including his not-quite-finished final work.) Of course maybe all the falling over each other was going on behind the scenes as people fought over the rights. If the Bridge's production of Sondheim's (music and lyrics) and James Lapine's (book) Into the Woods is anything to go by, what they were waiting for was the chance to really go big, both in terms of spectacle and of recognisable performers to take on what is an almighty ensemble piece. The Baker (Jamie Parker, who I think we can all agree is the first History Boy ever to take on the role) and his wife (Katie Brayben) can't have children, which it turns out is down to a curse placed on his family.

The witch (Kate Fleetwood) will remove it, but only if he brings her potion ingredients from four fairytales going on simultaneously around them: Jack's (Jo Foster) cow, Cinderella's (Chumisa Dornford-May) slipper, Red Riding Hood's (Gracie McGonigal) cloak and some of Rapunzel's (Bella Brown) hair.

Although I love the premise and a lot of individual moments Into the Woods has never been among my favourite Sondheim shows, but while Jordan Fein's production won't change that it's still probably the most entertaining one I've seen. The opening scene of all the main characters assembling and being given their quests is charmingly done in a simple wooden setting with Roland Horvath's projections providing the birds Cinderella talks to; it's obvious there's a big set reveal coming but even so Tom Scutt's dark, eerie and seemingly endless woods don't disappoint when we do get to see them.

The luxury casting is of course another reason this works - it's amazing to think Fleetwood so rarely does musicals when she's so commanding in what is probably the closest thing the show has to a lead, giving the comedy wickedness of the first act and turning it into genuine pathos in the second. Parker and Brayben make an exhausted but quietly devoted couple, Foster and McGonigal brattish kids and Dornford-May is the heart as a Cinderella who has to quietly be the adult to everyone around her. And while she won't quite be challenging Paddington for the crown, the puppet of Jack's cow Milky White is also scene-stealingly cute.

This was my mum's first full-length Sondheim show, after the tribute concert on TV caught her interest, and she enjoyed its twisted fairytale world; her favourites were the two philandering princes (Oliver Savile and Rhys Whitfield,) whose big number "Agony" is probably the best-known song from the show.

The second act, where the characters have had their happy ever after and have to face the consequences of the things that got them there, is essentially the whole point of the show, but I've always found it the weaker. I thought maybe it was the ever-darkening storyline which sees several characters, even including (SPOILER ALERT) Michael Gould's affable Narrator, abruptly crushed by a rampaging giant. But although I do think that (SPOILER ALERT) killing off Rapunzel after she and her Prince have had a particularly grisly and miserable path to their happy ending is a bit unnecessarily mean, on this viewing I generally enjoy the twisted paths the story takes.

What's a lot more likely is that the show just wildly exceeds the quota of how many slow numbers I can handle in a row, and as the second act goes on it almost exclusively consists of moments where the characters stop to tell us what the story's lesson is through the medium of Big Ballad. Great though many of them are it all gets a bit overwrought for me. My issues with the show are just that though, issues with the show itself rather than the production, which hits the right mix of sweet, spooky and sour the story's aiming for.

Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine is booking until the 30th of May at the Bridge Theatre.

Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes including interval.

Photo credit: Johan Persson.