Review of Loft Theatre Company production of Into the Woods (2010)

Have fairy tales ever seemed so Grimm? What strange, perverted land is this where folk are loud, greedy and self-centred, where hovering birds are on hand to blind Cinderella’s sisters and people die under the giant’s trampling feet?

Stephen Sondheim’s musical is a grotesque and hilarious parody of all that was traditionally seen as sweet and charming in the dizzy world of the Brothers Grimm. Closer inspection reveals undercurrents of some of the worst traits of human nature, and these are the sizzling ingredients of this extraordinary show.

It takes a remarkable company to hit the right notes, in every sense, and the Loft delivers the goods in no uncertain fashion with Kenny Robinson’s splendid production. The teamwork is finely tuned and the players succeed admirably in blending with Sondheim’s deliberately perverse score, delivered to them with challenging intensity under Richard Taggart’s musical direction.

The only drawback is a variation of singing voice levels, which would seem to be a technical issue. But it is quickly forgotten when the preening princes launch into their Agony routines, delightfully rendered by James Wolstenholme and director Robinson, or the golden voice of Julia Donoghue’s appealing Cinderella later soars in one of the show’s few (it has to be said) tuneful numbers.

Visually it’s a treat. On a cleverly surreal set design, performers strike and maintain witty and eloquent poses and the inherent mischief of the piece is constantly to the fore. There is no weak link among the large cast of characters, but you may especially remember the deliciously obnoxious Little Red Riding Hood of Carly McPhillips, the vampish, alluring witch of Rayner Wilson and Michael Barker’s earnest and short-fused Baker.

This is another triumph for the Loft in what must surely rank as one of its best seasons.

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Peter McGarry is an experienced, independent professional theatre critic who has agreed to review Loft Theatre Company productions.

The agreement with the Loft is that Peter is free to express his opinions for good or ill. The Loft Theatre Company has no control whatsoever over the content of these reviews and will never comment publicly on what he writes.