kes DRAMA GOES INTO THE WOODS
Once upon a time, in a theatre not far from here, a dazzling array of brave pupils and intrepid staff took a quite ridiculous risk to put on Stephen Sondheim’s beguiling masterpiece and take us into the woods.
But this is no fairytale. These woods offer no Edenic paradise, no pleasant escape from society or civility. In the opening numbers, the woods possess a mischief – the dangers of Shakespeare’s Arden – a place of transgression and forbidden desire and the breaking of all moral codes. By the story’s climax, however, this is a murderous and macabre space of betrayal and loss. Tragedy, even.
The production navigates the depths and complexity of these stories – as well as some eerily powerful tonal modulations – with the skill and sensitivity that belies the constraints of a school production. The redemption comes not from the woods without but the humanity within.
It is a notoriously challenging score, with endless syncopation, dissonant harmonies, more time signatures than trees and more accidentals than action (quite something, given the relentless saga of its epic plot), but the entire cast handle this with awesome confidence, embracing the panoramic ambition of this production.
The set is strikingly industrial given the story’s setting, with brass piping and steel wheels providing an almost metallic foliage. An iron tower keeps the siren call of Molly G’s haunting Rapunzel locked in the skyline. It all seems to suggest a sense of human folly and man-made urbanity invading the natural order of the woods. Before the play’s end, and with the entrance of a vengeful giant, the creative stage transforms into a steam-punk aesthetic that feels more Wicker Man than Wicked. To have the idea to render it so, and then to actually pull it off!
Ray R/Kit Ba and Beth R/Morven B, as the Baker Husband and Wife, provide the anchor of the story, pursuing each fairytale vignette in turn to as they strive to collect objects and become parents at whatever cost. Both are as tender as they are flawed and communicate real feelings through their gorgeous voices and subtle exchanges. The relationship feels fragile, authentic, lived.
Cassie M and Imogen L’s Witch is kick-ass and deliciously cruel, singing with an energy (and costume) that can feel Gaga-esque in its dynamite punch, but always with a softness that brings pathos to her confusion as a mother. Little Red Ridinghood, played brilliantly by Wren C and Sophie McB, foregoes the contrived innocence of her archetype and brings muscle, sass and indignation to her compelling performance.
The sublime Princes, Jack H and Gilbert W, look resplendent in Regency get-up and roll around the stage on scooters gilded in gold. They are uproarious in their outrageousness and utterly hilarious: somehow ickily magnetic and magnetically icky all at once.
Robyn N/ George T and Annabel H, as brave and decent Jack and his nagging but put-upon mother, command the stage as a fabulous pair with totally convincing familial energy and skilled comic timing. Sophie O and Becky B’s Cinderella, similarly, embodies dignity in poverty and sharply contrasts the arrogance and immorality of those around her with an understated aura on stage.
The rest of the cast bring energy and melody and movement to the chorus songs and there are myriad moments of levity from them, too: Lola C’s maniacally violent Grandmother, James F’s salivating and predatory wolf, Edward G’s disarmingly enigmatic Mysterious Man. It is held together by a triptych of captivating narrators, who exist in a curious space both within and without the play, and successfully capture the agency and powerlessness we all have (or don’t) over the stories we tell.
The puppetry and choreography embody the creative imagination of this production and, in many respects, this interpretation remains true to the darker origins of medieval and Germanic folklore. It is far removed from the sanitised Disney tropes and all the better for it. Death, revenge or suffering are always lurking around the next tree, often literally.
All told, this year’s musical is a bombastic, ambitious and brilliant adventure. ‘Into the Woods’ we went indeed, madly and gladly, and we will carry this extraordinary show into our happily ever after.
Review by Mr Benedict, Head of Sixth Form
