This is a theatre classic. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re in luck — there are copies available as all sorts of physical media and streaming options. This time around, I watched the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre version on Digital Theatre Plus, which was delightful and heart-wrenching, as this story always is. This production in particular chose to split the narrator and Mysterious Man roles so that the narrator is a child and the Mysterious Man is cast pretty typically. With that, they added interesting layers of meaning that I don’t want to spoil for you, but were very effective. They also had great puppets! If you’re able to check it out (maybe ask your library?), I highly recommend it. You can also purchase and read it — here’s my copy from Theatre Communications Group:
Into the Woods follows many of our favorite fairy tale characters — Cinderella, Jack (of Beanstalk fame), Rapunzel, and a newly created baker and his wife who are dealing with a wicked witch. In the first act, the characters perform their stories faithfully, if a little cynically. We get a complete beginning, middle, and end in the first act because Sondheim likes to play with structure like that. This is also when you might take the little ones home before everything in Act II gets dark. In Act II, we look at what happens after ‘happily ever after.’ The characters deal with the repercussions of their selfish choices and contemplate themes of moral ambiguity and the kinds of lessons we should pass along to children. The characters who survive, that is. It actually holds up really well for a show from 1987, partly because it doesn’t claim that any of its characters are ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ so they’re allowed to make some mistakes.
This show offers a number of great solo pieces (“Giants in the Sky,” “On the Steps of the Palace,”) and some great duets and group pieces (“Agony,” “No One Is Alone,”). These make for incredible, deep classroom work because they are difficult and layered with great character information. However, their popularity can make them less-than-ideal choices — or choices that are straight up on a ‘don’t sing’ list — for auditions and competitions. Most theatre folk have heard them a million times, and the chances of you sounding better than the Broadway cast recording are very slim. So, study them in class and use those skills on a less well-known song to take on the road.
Here’s more general info for ya:
Genre: Musical Theatre
First Production: 1987
Cast: 9 women, 7 men, optional ensemble
Casting Opportunities and Challenges: There’s a lot of flexibility in the identities of the actors filling these roles. The songs and solos are also spread out well amongst the ensemble, so there’s a lot for everyone to do — always a plus!
Ideal Performance Space: Proscenium, Site-specific (as in the production I watched!)
Technical Opportunities and Challenges: Into the Woods has traditionally been performed in a campy style, which offers more flexibility to the technical challenges inherent in the script. The fairy tale characters require some specific costuming needs, there is a lot of movement between spaces in the script, and Milky White the cow needs to do a lot — follow Jack around, eat a cloak, die, etc. This is usually done with a puppet, as are Cinderella’s birds, who show up a couple of times.
Ideal Production Company: This does well on basically all levels — regional, community, and college theatre are all definite yeses. High school theatre may need to be a bit more careful with the violence and sexual content, but it’s still very doable. There’s even a junior version, though I’m not sure how exactly that works.
Passes the Bechdel Test: Yes!
Themes: Fairy Tales, Moral Ambiguity, Classic, Ensemble Cast, Centers Female Characters, Fantasy, Family
Major Dramatic Question: Will the Baker and his Wife be able to have a child? How will that child grow up?
What was the writer trying to do? Were they successful?
In some ways, I think Sondheim just wanted to write a musical with a complete first act and see what happened after that. This was also one of the first musicals to center morally ambiguous characters, and the fact that they’re fairy tale archetypes on top of that makes that fact especially poignant.
Why this play now?
We’re more comfortable with moral ambiguity now, but there are still folks in the world who like to see things in black and white. The idea of needing to take care of one another and take responsibility for your actions (“No One Is Alone”) may be even more relevant now than it was in 1987 — the internet has made it easier to separate yourself from your actions, and the idea that the two are inextricably interconnected is, I think, an important thing to talk about today. What do you think?
Up Next on my TBR:
Theodosia Redux by Claudia Barnett
The Tempest by William Shakespeare
The Language Archive by Julia Cho
What are you reading or seeing this week?