Into the Woods

Into the Woods in probably one of Stephen Sondheim’s most approachable musicals for an audience combining as it does, characters from some of the Western World’s most familiar fables from Rapunzel, Little Red Riding-hood, Snow White and Cinderella to name just a few.  The first half of the show tells those family fairy-tails with the second half asking the more challenging and interesting question, what happens after happy-ever-after… ?

First things first, the Spotlight production was extremely impressive.  The staging was very refreshing being very minimal with a central “tower” of everyday Wooden articles, with the tables and chairs being rotated at various parts of the production to create Rapunzel’s tower, a giant beanstalk and baker’s house.  Excellent design work by Cassie and the production team with Sian Hooton setting some of the scenes and dances.  Sam Griffith was also on great form as he and the cast made the complexities of the score and its 72 numbers often with 4 characters or more with potentially clashing counter melodies, seem as ‘easy and natural’ on the ear.  The Choreography was perfectly in keeping with the overall feel of the show being supportive to the story telling throughout.

Every cast member be they principal or in a supporting role gave superb vocal and acting performances.  There was never a moment when they were not using their-entire being to make their character three dimensional without overacting or upstaging (ok within the bounds of what the Wolf and Princes should do…).

This was very much an ensemble cast performance made all the more so by the impact of Covid on cast including the performance I saw where Sian Hooton and Lucy Gazzard seamlessly stepped into additional roles which, if there hadn’t been an announcement, you would never have known such was their quality.

Turning to the key Principals, they all delivered incredibly strong and rounded performances: Sam Barson the vulnerable Baker finally coming to terms with how his life has been turned upside-down, Samantha Hedley the ‘desperate for a child’ Bakers Wife not unwilling to have a trist in the woods, Eva Sheppard a very street wise ‘Red’, Stan Cook the naïve Jack who’s courage developed throughout the night, Lizzie Fenner shone as Cinderella who moved from poverty to princess and then discovered that happiness is not about the material things in life.   Danielle Easter used her whole self to portray the old bitter witch with hunched body and cackling vocal delivery, which transformed into the physically beautiful but flawed younger self and Poppy Cook delivered a great Narrator who linked and pushed the stories forward until her untimely run in with the Giant in Act 2. 

Kate Ingles, Ellie Monterosso and Megan Leahy revelled as the “beautiful on the outside/ugly on the inside”, step-family, Michael Radford excelled as both the Wolf and Cinderella’s Prince who together with Oliver Halford as Rapunzel’s Prince delivered suitably over the top performances, Emily Hope-Wilkins, the increasingly distracted Rapunzel managed to pull her vocal motif from a standing start at every opportunity, without snapping her vocal chords and Daisy Donoghue was a perfectly sympathetic and feisty Milky White.  All the other supporting characters personified their roles so congratulations to Joe Butler, Mike Pearson, Lottie Allsopp, and Katie Faulkner.

Lighting and sound supported the production with a great balance between pit and stage and lighting used to support the minimal set and the production was significantly enhanced by; the superb orchestra ably guided by Sam.

Congratulations one and all.

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