INTO
THE WOODS
Gallery
Players
at
the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
Tea
and flapjack in the interval. "… like going back to your
childhood, only deeper and darker …" muses the man at the next
table. Can't think of a better summing up of Sondheim's Into The
Woods.
Often
considered a difficult piece, though popular with performers, there
was something of a breakthrough in Regent's Park the other summer,
when Timothy Sheader had the narrator, usually an older, wiser,
character [Nicholas Parsons in the West End back in the Dark Ages],
played by a small boy, taking refuge in the woods, with his dolls and
his demons. So I was delighted to see Steve Wooldridge borrowing this
idea, and extending it in a devised prologue with the child's little
friends, playing games in the scary fairy-tale forest – what's the
time, Mr Wolf …
Tom
Beattie is brilliant as the boy, confidently drawing us into the
action, singing along, acting out key confrontations with the aid of
the plastic dolls.
But
there's not one performer less than excellent in this polished show –
it has a very professional feel about it, and not simply because of
the Wolsey stage with its technical facilities.
Particularly
impressive were Stephanie Brown as the determined, practical mother
of The Lad Jack – engagingly done by Jack Brett. Molly Scurrell was
Red Riding Hood, a strong character, howling like a toddler,
outstanding in her loss-of-innocence number "I Know Things Now".
The tormented Baker, ultimately Tom's dad in this version, was
compellingly sung and played by Paul Stone – Clare Dungey was
almost unbearably moving as his wife, longing for a child; her
"Moments in the Wood" was one of many musical high spots.
The feisty Cinderella, duetting effectively with Dungey, was Rachel
Lucock. The Jedwardian princes, Tom Mayhew and Joe Leat, ridiculously
posh with their lace and their fowling pieces, made the most of
"Agony". And rising to the challenge of the complex Witch,
Shelley Clempson, a memorable incarnation on rustic crutches, giving
us a splendid Last Midnight, enhanced by strikingly atmospheric
lighting [Dan Scarlett].
The
whole ensemble was incredibly secure; I shall long remember the
tableau at the end of Act One, with all these Grimm characters
looking down on poor Tom in his lonely sleeping bag.
A
constantly delightful use of detail – the post-coital cigarette,
the tea-cosy hat, the leaves falling from the rafters, the washing
line, "Essex Way" [home of Cinderella's TOWIE step-family],
the foliage birds, the Baker's Wife's corpse trolleyed off, the
bullies finally turned into piglets, not-so-little Red Riding Hood
constantly stuffing her face with cakes. And the wonderful Milky
White, an expressive bovine puppet, created by Dave Borthwick, who
also designed the stylish woodland set.
The
music was directed by Richard Healey, with his classy band high up
stage left, next to the Witch's leafy lair.
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