Into the Woods at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast

 

INTO THE WOODS

MUSIC AND LYRICS BY STEPHEN SONDHEIM

BOOK BY JAMES LAPINE

DIRECTED BY CAMERON MENZIES

At the Lyric Theatre, Belfast

On the 19th February 2022

 

Storm Eunice had just about reached Belfast when I ventured out on a wet and bleak Friday evening to see the Lyric Theatre’s new production of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Into the Woods.  I had already seen the film version but had not been impressed probably because there were too many actors of the kind that are famous for being famous and who could not sing very well.  The cast of the Lyric’s production were better singers and the production benefitted from a simpler, more economical approach to set design than what had seemed to be an overproduced, bloated Hollywood ensemble affair.  Anna Kendrick and James Corden were notably disappointing in the film version.

In the Lyric’s version there was one set which was unchanged throughout the entire production.  Wooden logs make a spiral catching all the things that occur in fairy tales like milk pales, mops, broomsticks, ladders to unknown realms.  The circular and upwards trajectory of the set provided the perfect setting for action and music.  The director Cameron Menzies seemed to find trite, home-made, and economical ways of expressing things like Milky White the cow attached to a tricycle and the birds that speak to and advise Cinderella waved on strings and a stick.  The absence of industrial light and magic gave way to a rendering of the musical in local dialect which seemingly complimented the origins of folk tales presented with unmistakeably symbolic meanings.

The stories are those of Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm.  The crueller aspects of the stories come via the Brothers Grimm, such as the blinding of the ugly sisters by magic doves.  Their characters, all of them familiar to children everywhere, Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Rapunzel.  Jack and the Beanstalk is a British fairy tale which originated in the 18th century, but which is said to be as much as 5,000 years old.  The tale derives something from Shakespeare’s King Lear with the giant’s rhyme ‘Fie fi fo fum! I smell the blood of an Englishman’ derived from the play.  Of course, the tales have been heavily analysed by the susceptible, by those who are ‘yung and easily freudened’.  At the core of these tales are images of primal terror like the wolf in bed dressed as granny, of the recovery of dignity and love as in Cinderella and the righting of wrongs in Jack and the Beanstalk.  The author James Lapine has bound these stories around a tale of a baker and his wife who are desperate for a child and a witch who promises them hope but only after the completion of some necessary tasks.  The tales are ancient and terribly incorrect in political terms but also timeless and charming.

There is no show-stopping song like Over the Rainbow in Into the Woods but the songs function perfectly in terms of the narrative and the singing was beyond expectations.  Songs like Your Fault, No One is Alone, On the Steps of the Palace and Agony stand out without being iconic or timeless.

Allison Harding was note perfect as The Witch as she is transformed into a Fairy Godmother like figure later in the musical.  Peter Hannah’s Wolf encompassed evil as he too is changed into Cinderella’s Prince Charming.  The stark duality of good and evil is softened by the robustly jocular approach of this production.  Conor Quinn’s Jack was also notable, offering a charmingly bemused Jack, in the actor’s professional debut.  Sinead O’Kelly’s Baker’s Wife also sang and acted with gusto.  Duality is also present in the role of the Narrator/Mysterious Man rendered with aplomb by Sean Kearns.

The trite theme of the show, do not leave the path and venture into the woods, is part of the timeless appeal of fairy tales.  The wood symbolises our unknown libidinal urges, the unconscious mind, as opposed to the consciously directed and organised civilising forces of the village.  These contrasts are evoked through the artistic direction, costumes that seem real not contrived, a singing cast accompanied by expertly tuned instruments and players, and an atmosphere of hilarious unpretentiousness.  Into the Woods is a success and offers excellent entertainment.

Paul Murphy, Lyric Theatre, February 2022

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