Into The Woods
Into the Woods
Play Review
Zachary Martin
Before Grimm, before Supernatural, and even before Wicked, there was one “reimagining of classic fairy tales with interwoven plots and grey scale characters” and that was Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim uses four familiar stories to set the scene for his overarching plot allowing him to concentrate on jokes and creating new relationships between old characters. He also uses familiar characters in ways that blend categories. Through much of act one every character is stock through and through, yet by the end of the play our dashing prince charming has become an unapologetic adulterer, and the wicked old witch becomes an anti-hero. In addition to plot and character Sondheim pays special attention to his musical numbers; just from the first number we understand the characters relationships to one another, their motivations (having children, going to the festival, visiting grandma, and not starving), and we’re introduced to the play’s key metaphor: the woods. While these aspects were vital to the performances success I will be concentrating on the diction and acting. Into the Woods is filled with misdirection, not the least of which is how each character introduces themselves in act one compared to how they behave in act two. Cinderella and Little Red begin with melodic voices and light on their feet action. This effectively establishes them as the naïve fairy tale protagonists we all know and love. However each undergo a change in demeanor after a pair of life changing events: Cinderella sneaks out of her home and dances with the prince at the festival and Little Red is eaten by the Wolf. After their respective events these characters show signs of world weariness in both their action and their dialogue. Cinderella is much less bouncy in her action and even though she still sings songs her diction is not as sing-songy as when she was introduced. Little Red abandons her happy go lucky act
Play Review
Zachary Martin
Before Grimm, before Supernatural, and even before Wicked, there was one “reimagining of classic fairy tales with interwoven plots and grey scale characters” and that was Into the Woods by Stephen Sondheim. Sondheim uses four familiar stories to set the scene for his overarching plot allowing him to concentrate on jokes and creating new relationships between old characters. He also uses familiar characters in ways that blend categories. Through much of act one every character is stock through and through, yet by the end of the play our dashing prince charming has become an unapologetic adulterer, and the wicked old witch becomes an anti-hero. In addition to plot and character Sondheim pays special attention to his musical numbers; just from the first number we understand the characters relationships to one another, their motivations (having children, going to the festival, visiting grandma, and not starving), and we’re introduced to the play’s key metaphor: the woods. While these aspects were vital to the performances success I will be concentrating on the diction and acting. Into the Woods is filled with misdirection, not the least of which is how each character introduces themselves in act one compared to how they behave in act two. Cinderella and Little Red begin with melodic voices and light on their feet action. This effectively establishes them as the naïve fairy tale protagonists we all know and love. However each undergo a change in demeanor after a pair of life changing events: Cinderella sneaks out of her home and dances with the prince at the festival and Little Red is eaten by the Wolf. After their respective events these characters show signs of world weariness in both their action and their dialogue. Cinderella is much less bouncy in her action and even though she still sings songs her diction is not as sing-songy as when she was introduced. Little Red abandons her happy go lucky act