This is London November 2026 - Flipbook - Page 24
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Photos: Johan Persson
INTO THE WOODS
Noel Coward Theatre
Is there any musical to surpass
Stephen Sondheim’s ‘Into the The
Woods’ for psychological complexity,
folkloric tragedy, Freudian undertones
and, well – sheer musicality? Plus, it is
very, very funny.
In the opening chorus, Cinderella
sings of her desire to go – ‘more than
anything’ – to the King’s festival with her
father, stepmother and (rather beautiful)
stepsisters. We feel her longing with a
piquancy that extends to all the fairytale
characters about to enter the forest on
their own fateful journeys.
Gracie McGonigal’s Little Red
Ridinghood is a confident, well-fed girl,
each cheek like one of the glazed buns
she loves so much. The Wolf salivates
over her young flesh, but she is not
afraid. It is no coincidence that this hairy
charmer is played by Matthew SeadonYoung, Cinderella’s Prince in a parallel
tale. Is it a spoiler to say that the redhooded girl experiences being
swallowed up, only to be cut out of her
tribulations by a resourceful granny?
There are other feminist revisions.
The giant who is disturbed by the
advent of Jack climbing into his high-
Simbi Akande (Cinderella).
altitude home on a magic beanstalk is
later represented by his giant wife,
stomping about the earthly terrain with
thunderous boots and a murderous,
wifely rage. Why not. Jack himself (Keith
Ramsay) is a simpleton in Sondheim’s
version – infatuated with his milky white
cow (an oversized rag doll resembling a
comfort object) and seeking to buy her
back at all costs after initially letting her
go for the handful of magic beans.
Central to this relationship saga are
the Baker (John Dagleish) and his wife
(Laura Pitt-Pulford.) Hitherto childless
under a curse from a witch, their wish
for a baby drives them into the woods to
seek four potentially magical objects
dictated by the witch, including the red
hood, the white cow and so on. Theirs is
a whole marriage acted out on stage; the
Baker’s fumbling attempts to fulfil the
quest alone soon give way to his wife’s
urgent (and more resourceful)
assistance. ‘It Takes Two’ is a truly
touching moment of realisation,
beautifully sung.
Kate Fleetwood reprises her role as
the Witch – all screwed up, evil features,
but with a fabulous soprano voice.
Chief of all comedies in this
interwoven tale is the romantic quest
self-imposed on two Princes – one to
seek the elusive, glass-slippered
Cinderella (who is not sure she really
wants marriage to a Prince; she just
wanted to go to a ball), one to acquire
the golden-haired maiden in the tower,
Rapunzel. The duet ‘Agony’ dissects
these dreams in a square-jawed,
perfectly handsome, musical rendition of
erotic frustration. But as one of the
blokey Princes notes later, ‘I was brought
up to be charming, not sincere.’
Jordan Fein’s direction makes for a
sharply focused retelling which is, dare
I whisper it, better than earlier London
versions and even the original Broadway
cast. This West End cast are not merely
top notch singers. They can really act.
Allow yourself to be carried along by the
magic and the madness of this gorgeous
musical narrative and you should come
out of the woods refreshed as well as
older and wiser.
Sue Webster
T H I S I S L O N D O N M A G A Z I N E • T H I S I S L O N D O N O N L I N E • w w w. t i l . c o m • @ t h i s i s l o n d o n m a g
