Into The Woods

Into the Woods, the James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim musical masterpiece that intertwines the plots of Charles Perrault’s fairy tales and Brothers Grimm, was presented by Five Towns Theatre at the Stoke Rep. 

An ‘ambitious choice’, I thought on hearing that the group were to be tackling this challenging piece, but a visit that I had been looking forward to as I know the show intimately and I am a huge Sondheim fan!

What struck me as I entered the auditorium was the amount of work that had gone in to the set. Recreating a woodland atmosphere with multiple levels, rustic finish and a leaf covered floor made for the perfect composite setting. Dropping the centre of the apron also made for height variation in front of the pros, giving more use to the front of the stage. All of this combined made for plenty of visual interest throughout the show, even though at times I was worried about some of the cast negotiating the many steps!

It was firstly wonderful to see the twelve piece orchestra accompanying the show. The company should take pride in being able to afford what is now seen by some societies as an ‘unaffordable’ luxury, and under the guidance of Keith Ragdale they gave the perfect accompaniment. There is very little dialogue in this show and the music is used to tell the story and portray characters and their relationships. Therefore, always ensure that an audience can hear and understand what is going on. What might be obvious to a cast that has been rehearsing for six months may not be clear to an audience that have never seen the show. Projection, diction and articulate! That said, there were some strong vocalists in the cast, from the powerful witch played by Lucy Birkin and the gentle operatic Rapunzel played by Katy Ernest. To single out each character would take time, but the ‘Team’ of principals worked well, supported by a young hardworking ensemble.

“Woods” is a storytelling work of art. Many of Lapine and Sondheim’s collaborative work demands more from your average cast (and audience) as they are littered with hidden meaning and depth. This somewhat complex plot could easily conclude at the end of Act 1, but it is the second half that demands the thematic understanding.  Morals, choices, growing up, parenthood, infidelity and dishonesty, to name but a few, need to be portrayed here.  Although Five Towns performed the show correctly it seemed that there wasn’t enough  focus on the portraying of characters as they are meant to be played and understanding how to get the most out of the written comedy. Within the characters the themes should be explored and although the principals worked well to execute their roles, greater guidance as to their complexities would have made for a truer realisation of the show.

Using a young boy as narrator worked well, and was obviously a nod to the professional Regent’s Park production, but at times the comedy lines within his commentary were lost. Accents were far stretching, and maybe this was a deliberate choice but it seemed a little odd.  A puppeteered milky white made for a more personalised touch here rather than your standard ‘wheel on cow’!  Costumes were well thought out, although at times there was a mis-match of styles and periods - Jack’s Mother in dungarees and the Baker with no acknowledgment of his trade. Lighting was effective, but during the complex vocal numbers it was sometimes difficult to focus on who was singing without searching the stage. This could have been enhanced by more focused lighting or staging the soloists slightly apart from the company..

Although this show is not designed to have a large cast and ensemble, you managed to integrate your members well, using them to create poses and stylised positions. In the larger numbers basic but effective choreography was staccato and clearly well-rehearsed.

This was an admirable performance of a difficult show, but was presented more as an ‘adventure story’ than its original intended deep and dark concept. However, this clearly appealed to the supportive audience and was a safely played introduction to Sondheim. Well Done!

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