Think of a story where wishes come true… and then become terribly inconvenient!

This week, Marina Kestner Pavlock takes Carlos into the tangled, magical world of Into the Woods - a story filled with love, song and the occasional existential crisis (Carlos relates)

Marina is one of our Gold Diploma students, as well as an actor, singer and theatre director with a deep love of storytelling in all its beautifully messy forms.

Into The Woods Review

Recently, I went to see ‘Into the Woods’, at the Bridge Theatre. For anyone unfamiliar with the musical, it was written by Stephen Sondheim (lyrics/music) and James Lapine (script), following many different fairytale characters, as their stories overlap. The first half of the show follows the well known parts of fairytales, including characters like Little Red Ridinghood, Rapunzel, and Jack and the Beanstalk, as well as The Baker and his wife, who are wanting to have a child. The second act then becomes a lot darker, with many characters facing tragedy, diving into the aftereffects of what we perceive as happy endings for these characters. Overall, the show challenges the idea of living ‘happily ever after’, as well as what we perceive to be good and evil within the stories that we consume. 

Immediately upon entering the theatre, there was a strong atmosphere of intrigue and excitement, which was heightened by my own enthusiasm about the show I was about to go see. While the foyer is quite large, with some available seating, it quickly became packed with excited theatregoers. I was seated in the 1st Gallery, and although it is not as close to the stage as stalls, it still felt like quite an intimate performance space.

What struck me immediately was the minimal and dreary design of the set during the opening song, with only a table on a grey background. This made the start of the show feel slightly unengaging for me as an audience member, as I felt like I needed to really focus on what was happening onstage, rather than being engaged naturally by the material. However, after the opening sequence, when the characters decide to embark on all their journeys, the set opens up into a beautiful forest scene that is very rich in colour and intricately made. This contrast from the plain opening set really heightens the beauty of the forest, which did make me feel more attached to the idea of the woods as something magical, so I can understand why the grey was implemented in the beginning of the show.

I found all of the actors to be exceptional; the one that stood out to me the most was Oliver Savile, who played Cinderella’s Prince and The Wolf. We first come across this actor as he is playing The Wolf, alongside Gracie McGonigal as Little Red Ridinghood. The way he acted in the song that they sing together manages to perfectly balance the repulsiveness and creepiness of their interaction, while still managing to maintain an extravagant and almost ludicrous portrayal of The Wolf. For example, his mannerisms during the song are very exaggerated, like how at the end he sprints into a run then gives a very loud wolf howl. His acting made the song an enjoyable and funny watch, but it was balanced by a feeling of dramatic irony, as most (if not all) audience members will know that Little Red gets eaten by The Wolf later on. Again, Savile shows his excellent comedic ability through his character of Cinderella’s Prince. This is especially exemplified during his duet, ‘Agony’, with Rapunzel’s Prince. Both of their acting was incredibly dramatic, and the actors had great chemistry with each other, which made the comedic timing feel perfect. He managed to make both of his characters seem like separate people, while showcasing the comedy of both.

This production of Into The Woods really played into the fast-paced nature of the Sondheim music, especially during the first half, which was helped along by the scene transitions being smooth and rapid. During the second half of the show, the more slow and reflective numbers, such as ‘No More’ and ‘No One Is Alone’, showed a slower and more reflective tone. ‘No One Is Alone’ is sung by Cinderella, Little Red, The Baker and Jack, after many of their loved ones die. This was so emotionally impactful, especially because it was sung so beautifully by all the actors. Because of all the heavy themes explored, such as death and cheating, it would have been possible for the second act to drag a bit, and become slightly agonising. However, the show was directed in a way where the characters still alive retained their believability, and as an audience member I was rooting for them the whole way through. This made it so that the show was still so engaging, and it was such a beautiful and touching experience. They explored grief and anger in such a tender but unafraid way, it was really so stunning.

Something that struck me particularly about the production was the lighting design, and how they showed the Giant’s Wife. She appears in the second act, and at first all you know about her is the sound of her booming voice, yelling for Jack. This is quite a frightening introduction to her character, and I could almost feel the seats shaking. The lighting design comes in when the Giant’s Wife arrives on the scene, and she is projected as a huge shadow covering the whole stage and above it. This really shows the massive scale of her, and matches with the frightening voice. She is then shown moving around by this shadow projection shifting onto the walls around the audience. Compared to other productions of this show where she is shown either as a disembodied voice or as a large puppet where maybe only the foot is visible, I thought this was a really effective way to clearly express the size and power of the Giant’s Wife, while not having to spend lots of time moving heavy props. A prop that was interesting was Jack’s cow, which instead of being a large animal to wheel around, was a puppet that Jack would cover his arm in. The actor for Jack had excellent control of the puppet, so it was believable as a cow. When other characters had control of the cow, such as the Baker, they did not use it as a puppet in the same way, rather holding it limply like a stuffed animal. I thought this was such a cool directional choice, showing the unique bond between Jack and his animal.

My favourite song was ‘Your Fault’, which had speech-like, staccato singing. It was so punchy, and the actors efficiently blended their voices and made it such an exciting song to listen to/watch. It was also interesting during this song to see how the different characters interacted with each other. Most of them took centre stage, pushing to the front when it was their turn to sing. However, the Witch stayed on stage left, only casually singing when it was her turn. This direction of a physical distance between the majority and the Witch showed how her character was more of a social outcast to the others, and preempted how she would end up being blamed by all of the characters for the circumstances they were in, making it easier for them to position her as the villain. This was a great way of physically representing the characters’ relationships to each other!

This production of 'Into the Woods' influenced how I think about storytelling and musical theatre. It did this by showing me how much more engaging a story can be when it is presented alongside beautiful costuming and an amazing set, with both being colourful and vivid and intricate. I will remember this and use what it has taught me when I create my own productions.

I thought that the first half of the show lacked a little bit of the emotional depth and audience investment that was definitely there during the second half. However, this was not only down to this individual production, but could also have been because of the way that the show is written, that the first half will be a bit lighter than the second half, while the second half strives to tackle more of the tougher themes. The other version I have seen of this musical was the movie version, and while many brilliant actors were involved in that, I definitely think the message of the story is delivered in a much more succinct and enjoyable way onstage. Overall, I thought this was an incredibly exciting and powerful take on a challenging musical, and would absolutely recommend it to anyone thinking of going. I think something so special about this show is that it can be enjoyed by almost anyone, with themes applicable to all our lives. It made me feel inspired to watch and be involved with more Sondheim, as well as making me appreciate everyone’s unique story in my own life. Experiencing live theatre is so magical, and this production absolutely showed that.

by Marina Kestner Pavlock - Gold Arts Award Student