Directed by Dominic Lewis

Musical Direction by Finlay Turnbull

Review by Dominic Corr

Paradise in Augustine : Tickets

Occasionally, the best parts of the story – or, in this case, the review – aren’t reserved for the tale’s ending. So, reversing the traditional happy ending, we’ll begin with a happy beginning: Into The Woods is Bare Productions’ best work. And if you know the quality of their usual performances, that says something. The orchestration and sound balance, emotional song pitch, direction of cast and band, and welly given to the notoriously tricky James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim musical are exceptional. It’s one of the best musicals on the Fringe right now.

Upending the traditional, cutesy, Hollywood vibe of our favourite childhood fairytales, Into the Woods embraces the grim darkness accompanying these tales, mashing together the most popular of the lost to unearth their cruelty, nuance, and heartless natures. And yet, it’s one of the more entertaining musicals out there – certainly under the helm of director Dominic Lewis. Now, all good stories begin with their narrator – and Chris Young is here to ensure that this tale goes off without a hitch, with perfect diction and a few choice gags.

There’s no actual set – the budget all blown on having an udderly adorable puppet Milky White, the cow Jack trades for magic beans, given life by designer Andrew Layton – passed around by the ensemble and imparted with a ridiculous amount of humour and personality for a series of slats and (a bit too lifelike) face. But the lack of dressing doesn’t matter; it draws attention to the performance and vocals: the shining glory here. It’s undoubtedly the best sounding of Bare Productions under Finlay Turnbull’sband has triumphed over the Paradise in Augustine’s usual nightmare acoustics, the band and singers working in perfect tandem to showcase both scores and the often troublesome, but here magnificently articulated and punctuated lyrics.

Only Olivia Hall’s Rapunzel, a hauntingly beautiful voice echoing out, distant yet attainable – the perfect pitch for a maiden trapped in the tower. The other ladder, used to prop up Mae Haerons first of many roles, initially as the spirit of Cinderella’s mother/godmother, before coming down to earth as both a blade-wielding Granny, humour lashing around and an excellent aid to the foppish Will Jackson as Cinderella’s prince (sibling to Aaron De Veres’Veres’ equally egotistical Prince Charming) – every bit the stereotype, but living for every moment of the performance. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves – how do all these classic fairytale characters collide? Well, that’s all thanks to the Baker and his Wife, desperate for a child and looking to undo a curse placed upon the family by a sinister, spiteful witch who, like everyone here, has a bit more to them than what’s on the pages of storybooks.

Perfectly cast, Cathy Geddie’s sincere though determined Baker’sBaker’s Wife, along with Ethan Baird as her husband, leads the entire fifteen-strong cast as they hunt out four of the most prominent objects of fairytale lore: A red cape, hair as yellow as the corn, a golden slipper, and a lovely milk-white cow. Far from heroic, the pair dip and dive into the awkward choices they must make to obtain their desires – noble ones, but at profound costs to seek “forgiveness” from the Witch: Felicity Halfpenny a real treat on stage.

Halfpenny continues that marvellous tradition of secretly (or outwardly) rooting for the baddies as their exceptional role as the Witch is a masterstroke of comedy, wickedness, and physicality, which carries the story forward with superb storytelling and vocals. Rosie Sugrue, Tara Mccullough and Anna Spence impress as the Wicked Stepmother and Cinderella’s stepsisters – more fleshed out and human than their “ugly” fairytale counterparts, though still revelling in their superior nature and cruelty. It all makes other crowds support Elsie Watson’s Cinderella all the more earnest.

Vocally, Watson (along with Bare Productions regular star Rebecca Drever) is a stand-out: utterly gorgeous in control. Chalk and cheese, Watson’sWatson’s drifting Cinderella clutches to any glimmer of light, the most typically “fairytale” of the roles – while Drever’s Little Red has enormous fun as the more brutal and belligerent counterpart to the storybook child. So don’t let those bunny leaps of joy complete you – this Little Red is packing, especially after donning the wolf’s fur. And rounding it all out, Harrison Owen’s Jack really is the heartfelt endearment of the show – full of pep and vim as they endlessly try to get the cow back and may accidentally bring about the end of all things after igniting a war with the giants – it’s no wonder that his mother (Rebecca Holmes) is played with a tremendous amount of exasperation, but a genuine sense of earthen care.

Into the Woods finds its own path through the darkness, embracing the thicket and sharp brambles while hunting out a reinvention of the classics. Its final number is deeply appropriate and resonating. The talents of Bare Productions haven’t felt “amateur” for a fair while now; this is nothing but a group of professional grassroots performers making it perfectly clear to the Fringe that local theatre is the best in the business.

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