Into the Woods review: a ‘spellbinding’ and ‘irresistible’ production

This show, now staged in Bath, is spectacular to behold

Lauren Conroy as Little Red Riding Hood in Into The Woods
Lauren Conroy as Little Red Riding Hood in a ‘surreal’ Sondheim
(Image credit: Marc Brenner)

This production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods was summarily cancelled by the Old Vic last year, said Clive Davis in The Times, a few months before it was due to open. Co-director Terry Gilliam – “still a free spirit at the age of 81” – had, it seems, fallen foul of younger staff who were reported to have felt “uneasy” about remarks he had made about the #MeToo movement and transgender issues. His “thought crimes”, said Patrick Marmion in the Daily Mail, apparently included recommending a Netflix special by the African-American comedian Dave Chappelle. “What a relief, therefore, to see that artistic merit can still triumph over small minds.” The production, now staged in Bath, is spectacular to behold, and takes a “childlike delight in every aspect of James Lapine’s story”, weaving together an assortment of fairy tales.

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