“If only the Scottish were a little
larger...” – Sorry, what? I know Stephen Sondheim often sidles up to
his subjects from oblique angles, but
Into
The Woods is his musical about fairy tales; what’s the Baker’s
Wife doing at the top of the second act, musing about a second
independence referendum? Then I realised: she’s had a baby during the
interval (as you do), so is now wishing “If only this cottage were a
little larger”! Well, that’s that one sorted out at least.
As I say, it’s all too easy to believe that a Sondheim show could veer
off in such an odd direction. He and his scriptwriter James Lapine
spend the first act weaving together the stories of Little Red Riding
Hood, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and more, peopling
them with ordinary, fallible folk and seeing what happens; then, after
the interval, they investigate just what might lurk behind “happy ever
after”. After all, conduct has consequences: if you kill a giant,
that’s going to leave one very large and very angry widow.
The Menier Chocolate Factory is now a legendary try-out and/or studio
space for musicals: Sheridan Smith’s current West End hit
Funny Girl limbered up here. New
York-based Fiasco Theater have brought over a perfectly chamber-sized
production of the Sondheim. It’s set in an attic stuffed with
bric-à-brac, which is simultaneously the inside of a vast piano. The
only regular musical accompaniment is from pianist Evan Rees, with the
ten actors sometimes joining in on everything from guitar to bassoon to
autoharp... which, of course, also becomes the magical golden harp that
Jack, er, liberates from the giant. Most of the time this works
beautifully, but when the score enters one of its lush phases the
arrangements can seem a little thin.
Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, who play respectively the childless Baker
and Cinderella’s prince, direct their comrades with verve. The company
are nicely sardonic, and energetic both vocally and physically. Emily
Young is a gung-ho Little Red, Andy Grotelueschen a charismatic cow,
and the doubling of roles means that at one point Prince Brody has to
try Cinderella’s golden slipper on his own ugly-sisterly foot.
Into The Woods is probably,
together with
Sweeney Todd,
Sondheim’s most admired musical, and rightly so. It really shows
non-devotees just how much there is in his work to luxuriate in: the
score ranges from tinkly self-parody to majestic glory, the lyrics are
dense and knotty yet also always clear, and mine their subject topic
surprisingly deeply. It’s serious about being playful, and vice versa.
Mr S. was born to stray off the path.
Written for The Lady.