|
The main Into The Woods page is here
Magic and spectacular
Once upon a time, in the early 19th century, the brothers Grimm compiled an anthology of German fairy tales, and it came to pass that long afterwards, in the late 20th century, the American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim borrowed several of their stories, among them that of Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk, and with his own imaginative additions and the help of James Lapine’s book, wrote the musical Into the Woods, which the East Surrey-based Barnstormers now bring to the Minack for the first time and in a way that can only be called spectacular.
A musical which has been described as being "a fairy tale for the age of destruction through which we are living", in keeping with the best of fairy tales it has both its light and often very funny side and its darker and Grimm eye-pecking side, and is told in two halves so distinct that you could leave at the interval - following the fireworks - happy in the knowledge that you have already had more than your money’s worth. With hindsight I rather wish I had been spared the mish-mash of moralising and philosophising, the need to find the best in oneself and "no one is alone" bit, of the second act.
As bewitching as the production is, its "tower" and its technical wizardry in general are something else, at the same time it also bothers and bewilders, with its two-sided aspect making it difficult to decide which to plump for, the players or the splendid set on which they strut their stuff. This coupled with Stephen Sondheim’s sparkling lyrics that come at you with speed, suggests that one sitting provides but a taste, and that a second, even a third, sitting is needed to get to the meat of the piece. One of the few quips I managed to note, for instance, was the Wolf’s confession to Red Riding Hood: "There’s no possible way to describe how you feel, when you’re talking to your meal!"
A bitter-sweet, Grimm-Sondheim, fairy tale for adults with a super score - Agony to No More - in which every Barnstormer, the seen and the unseen alike, performs magnificently, it is pure magic.
Frank Ruhrmund
 |
