Into The Woods

Whilst I appreciate Sondheim is not everybody’s cup of tea, I have to say I really enjoy all the shows Stephen Sondheim has written.

Into The Woods is one of the iconic shows from the pen of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine and this production was able to do it more than justice to it, the set was a mixture of a rubbish dump and a fire station and if you are wondering what that means I will tell you a little later.

To do this show justice you need to have not just 2 leading couples as you would have in the majority of other shows, you need a full stage of actors who can sing a dance as a soloist and Longwood AOS have an abundance of talent on the stage this week, each one being able to deliver the goods in their own way to make this a superb production in every possible way.

I mentioned the set earlier which was designed by Chris Brearley, in many other shows the set is not mentioned but the one here deserves being mentioned and mentioned again, it was excellent. I said earlier it was a mixture of a rubbish dump and a fire station and the rubbish dump is meant as a compliment. On stage we had plenty of height with a walk way all around the stage with a good smattering of hide holes for the actors to make their entrance, also from the top deck to the stage there was a fireman’s pole which was put to effective use during the production.

As I said there are many characters in this piece, in fact there are 23 in total which means it is impossible to mention every single one in this short review but two I must mention are Charlie Topham and Lexi Pygott as the Narrators, they had to appear in various places on the stage and the walk way and deliver many, many lines and I have to say they never faltered, they totally deserved their bow at the end of the show.

In the roles of The Baker and Baker’s Wife we had real life husband and wife Dom and Holly Comber-Moccia, to say they were perfect is an understatement, they were out of this world, both able to deliver the goods in terms of their singing and acting as well as combining this with some difficult moves set by choreographer Zoe Roebuck who did a brilliant job with everyone in the cast.

As anyone who has seen this show will know the entire show is made up of fairy tale characters and how their roles develop throughout the show and another one, I must mention is the character, Little Rede Riding Hood which was in the more than capable hands of Caitlyn Davison-Quinn. Caitlyn was able to bring Riding Hood to life especially when she met her “granny” who by this time had been eaten by the Wolf, played by Robin Walsh who also doubled up as The Prince. Riding Hood attacking the Wolf was an excellent piece of theatre which left the audience amazed. Robin Walsh as The Prince was definitely well cast, he has an excellent voice which fitted the character so well and he brought the house down when each time he slid down the fireman’s pole. His pairing with Wizz Whitehead as The Steward was a joy to watch and listen to.

Another fairy tale in this show is Jack and The Beanstalk and in the lead role of Jack, Ben Malone got every ounce out of this character, Ben has a fine voice which was well suited to this part and his working with Milky White, the cow was superb as was David Clarkson who had the unenviable job of working the puppet but he did it with ease, the puppet was similar to the ones used in War Horse and like that you didn’t notice David, just the cow which is how this should be.

Other parts which deserve a mention are The Witch played by Rebekah Sutcliffe who delivered such a totally believable character that I suspect some members of the audience may have been a little frightened of, her singing was excellent and when the “curse” was lifted she appeared totally transformed to a lady as far from a witch as chalk is to cheese.

Cinderella, her step mother and Ugly Sisters, Lucinda and Florinda were brought to life by Charlotte Sowerby, Sharon Whitehead, Mia Bembridge and Hannah Whitworth respectively and all of whom were able to give some very convincing performances in their singing, dancing, and acting. Appearing each time with her long trusses as Rapunzel was Emma Kershaw and although Emma did not have many lines to learn she certainly made up for it with her beautiful voice.

Also, on stage and completing the line up were Anne-Marie Beer as a very domineering mother to Jack, Layla Sutcliffe as Snow White, Ian Ball as Cinderella’s Father and Richard Sykes as The Mysterious Man.

Congratulations to Martin Stead as the director of this piece on his vision which was made into a reality by the cast, Scott Kitchen who did an outstanding job of delivering this, not very easy, score and also to Zoe Roebuck for her dynamic skills as the shows’ choreographer.

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