Journey into the world of fairytales in Stephen Sondheim’s celebrated production, Into the Woods. Bare Productions returns to the festival following last year’s sellout production of Rent and delivers a fantastic production with an equally strong cast.
Into the Woods is one of the musical theatre's most well-known shows with several West End and Broadway runs, as well as a 2014 movie adaptation. The story follows a baker and his wife on a quest set out by The Witch where they must retrieve items including, a cow as white as milk, and hair as yellow as corn. In their journey into the woods, they encounter other fairytale characters including, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood and Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk. Each character goes on their journey, but strength is shown when they band together.
Bare Productions' version of the show is filled with a very strong cast, Ethan Baird and Cathy Geddie as the Baker and the Baker’s wife are a great paring with strong chemistry. Their number “It Takes Two” really allows their relationship and acting abilities to shine. Rebecca Drever as Little Red nails the humor and brings power to the character which is more evident here than other productions of the show. Felicity Halfpenny as the Witch is a very strong vocalist with impeccable vocal control. Felicity can nail both the villain-like nature of the character and shine in the softer moments of the character. The rest of the ensemble is equally strong delivering strong vocals and nailing the show’s more comic moments.
Simple sets including ladders being transformed into trees work well in the gothic surroundings of the church. Paradise in Augustines is a great venue for the show feeling both grand but also feeling very intimate, allowing you to see every expression on the actors' faces. Sound and lighting were also very strong as it’s a complicated production with so many characters. The scene transitions are smooth, and the effective use of lighting helps with these transitions. Dominic Lewis’s direction and Finlay Turnball’s Musical Direction deliver on both bringing out the vocal strengths of the performers, as well as allowing the actors to bring their personalities through in the characters and is a good blend of the performer’s abilities, with tweaks by the production team. The full orchestra under Finlay Turnball’s direction also deliver on Stephen Sondheim’s complex score and delivers a strong sound that fills the space.
This is a great production of Into the Woods. With a staging that allows the focus to be on the performers, this is a great way to spend an evening at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
This musical has been rated ☆☆☆☆☆
Into The Woods runs at Paradise in Augustines until the 10th of August. For full details see: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/into-the-woods
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