Review: Into The Woods, Regent’s Park
Published on Wednesday 25th August, 9.48am, Written by Amy Whiting
Open air theatre in August, in London? What could possibly go wrong?
Deep in Regent’s Park in North West London sits Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre. Set up perfectly for a summer evening’s entertainment, the venue is nestled behind a wall of trees and bushes, protecting it from the disruption of the city outside. The structure is as much of a spectacle as the productions it hosts.
A scene from Into The Woods in Regent's Park. Photo by Catherine Ashmore.
In the auditorium you are surrounded by trees and a wooden structure that will become the basis of your action for the evening. It’s hard to understand why the theatre doesn’t cover the seats in between performances. If you visit after an afternoon of rain be prepared to get a soggy bottom if you don’t think ahead and bring your own cushion.
Several of Grimm’s fairytales are the inspiration behind Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s Into the Woods. The musical blending of dark fantasy adventure, narrated by a young boy playing in the woods, is a fast-paced visual feast. Simply staged, the choreography and use of props helps to perfectly intertwine the stories together. Our narrator subtly uses a toy from his backpack to represent each of the characters; a testament to the excellent direction of Timothy Sheader. A variety of levels are used to convey the movement around the woods, and help all of the separate tales flow together seamlessly.
The most important tool for this flow is of course the music. The numbers are engaging, funny and often times emotional.
Into the Woods is definitely not a production for children. Not only are themes dark, but some parts are quite violent. There are particularly disturbing moments involving eyes, which if you are sensitive about will send shivers up your spin.
The production has a long running time of three hours. After reaching a satisfactory conclusion in the first an hour a half, the second act launches with a musical reprise. The tone is immediately darker with less of a comic edge giving the audience a sense of the action to come.
Unfortunately the climax of the play never came, as the on this particular night, the heavens opened.
When it rains, a voice appears over the top of the action, calls the actors off the stage (health and safety is important after all) and asks the audience to retreat to the safety of the bar area.
After a short time the same voice announces whether the action is able to continue or not, sadly during this visit rain stopped play. The stubs are valid for another performance though, an offer that will definitely be taken advantage of.
