Into The Woods. Photos: Kevin Kiomall
Into The Woods won multiple awards when it first came out in 1987. Introducing the element of “what then?” to the concept of a fairytale ending, it’s a deliciously dark retelling that has stood the test of time. Now, it’s being staged on our very own baroque Teatru Manoel, a fitting location.
I’ll admit to some misgivings upon first learning about it. A simple production, this is most definitely not. How would a local cast and crew cope with limitations of space and budget? Before I go into the detailed Into The Woods review, here is all the practical information.
Into The Woods dates & other production details
| Play | Into The Woods |
| My rating | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5) |
| Produced by | Teatru Manoel |
| Directed by | Lucienne Camilleri |
| Words & Music | Stephen Sondheim |
| Cast | Dorothy Bezzina, Joel Parnis, Rachel Fabri, Nadia Vella, Stephen Oliver, Christina Despott, Gianluca Cilia, Stefania Grech Vella, Thomas Camilleri, Ryan Grech, Bettina Zammit, Talitha Dimech, bettina Mattocks, Rebecca Darmanin, Karl Bartolo, David Ellul, Nicole Arrigo, Noel Zarb, Tessa May Attrill |
| Sound Design | Sergio Costa |
| Light Design | Dali Aguerbi |
| Set & Costume Design | Matthew Cassar |
| Hair & Make-Up | Krista Paris |
| Puppet Creation | Teatru Anon |
| Dates | May 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 |
| Time | Sundays at 3PM, all other dates at 8PM |
| Content warnings | Flashing lights |
| Venue | Teatru Manoel |
| Duration | 3 hours, including 15-minute interval |
| Ticket price | €45 stalls, €10 restricted view |
| Booking | Official website |
| Language | English |
| Accessibility | Stalls are fully accessible |
Table of Contents
Into The Woods narrative
Stephen Sondheim is wonderful, and that’s all you’re getting from me in this regard. His Into The Woods is a cheeky mash-up of some of our favourite fairy tales, with Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, Jack & The Giant Beanstalk and Rapunzel taking up most of the first act.
All these individual character arcs come together thanks to the Baker and his Wife, cursed to be childless by the evil Witch. And into the woods they all go, encountering precisely the kind of adventures you may expect them to encounter into the woods within a fairytale.
The first act follows a regular fairytale trajectory and, from a narrative perspective, things could have ended there. But Sondheim is never that predictable. Enter the second act, a darker continuation of each character’s story, fraught with imperfect human dilemmas. Such as, what happens when you’ve already got your Princess, but a more intriguing one shows up?
All this leads to one all-important question that’s the very antithesis of the fairytales we know – what happens after everyone gets their happily-ever-after? This opens the door to a series of darkly delicious twists, before it all wraps up with a second, happy-ish ever after.
The run time is just under three hours, which is not unusual for musicals. It’s a testament to Sondheim’s talent that you don’t notice exactly how long it is until the final bow.
This is the second Sondheim to be staged at Teatru Manoel in recent years, I believe. I hadn’t reviewed Sweeney Todd, but I had certainly enjoyed it. We are more used to seeing large-scale musicals at bigger venues – Masquerade’s Oliver! The Musical, at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, is a recent case in point. But our national theatre offered a gorgeous setting and it was gratifying to see a full house even on a Wednesday night.
Direction, staging & lights
Lucienne Camilleri’s energetic vision brought all the different elements of the production together beautifully. Camilleri guided the cast through the complex landscape created by Matthew Cassar with prowess, ensuring complete synchronicity between cast, staging, orchestra and lights. The slightest mismatch between any of these elements would have had catastrophic consequences, but the director avoided such pitfalls deftly.
Matthew Cassar’s set was no mere backdrop, but a character in its own right. It unfolded like a living storybook, each scene revealing layers of enchantment and surprise, with intricately shifting panels creating highly-immersive visuals.
The monochromatic tones became starker as the narrative ventured deeper into darker territory throughout the second act, the aesthetics themselves signalling the gradual shift in mood. Lighting design by Dali Aguerbi was masterful, complementing the set design to shift the mood and highlight the story-telling.
Puppetry was cleverly interwoven in the production, from the fluttering birds whispering in Cinderella’s ear to Milky White, the cow that’s so finely-rendered that she emerges as one of the most memorable characters of the show. The Teatru Anon signature is immediately evident here. This is the same troupe that created such wonderfully-immersive puppetry for The Little Prince. Once again, they achieved a marvel with the adorable Milky White. I swear I could see her expressions change at times.
The set’s complexity was such that it must have impacted the cast’s movements, but at no point did any awkwardness spill on to the audience. Matthew Cassar also designed the costumes, which were very much on the flouncy, traditional fairytale side of things. Here, the contrast between the light and the dark didn’t come out so well, with the costumes staying firmly within panto territory.
Music & sound
Ryan Paul Abela’s direction of an orchestra that was very much in fine fettle was exquisite. My box gave me a superb view of the pit. Maestro and musicians went beyond the straight-up rendering of a beautiful soundtrack, nailing every visual and lighting cue with gusto and bringing the Woods to life with the sounds of the night.
We’ve had occassions in locally-produced musicals when the sound overwhelmed the vocals. Not here. Here, the sound design by Sergio Costa was immaculately balanced even in numbers like the eponymous Into The Woods, which brings together the whole Company in one vocal surge. Lyrics and dialogue came through with clarity, almost every time. The one exception to this was during the Witch’s Lament, where words were briefly lost.
The cast
I was expecting great things here, and I got them. Dorothy Bezzina was spectacular in the role of the Witch. From poignancy to mischief, she gifted us all the emotions that made her an instant favourite with the audience, imbueing classics like Stay With Me with technical prowess and pathos.
Christina Despott as Little Red Riding Hood proved to be another audience favourite, and with good reason. The comedic chops are strong here, and the sense of mischief she brings to her exchanges is wonderful, whether with Jack (Gianluca Cilia, whom we recently saw as an excellent Artful Dodger in Oliver! ) or the Wolf (an entertainingly nefarious Karl Bartolo).
Joel Parnis was a solid Baker, although I felt that he didn’t fully deliver on the moral angst the role calls for through the second act, preferring instead to maintain a lighter approach all the way through. Rachel Fabri’s voice literally rose to new heights in her role as Baker’s Wife, while Bettina Zammit gave the role of Rapunzel the appropriate depth.
Other worthwhile mentions: Ryan Grech and Thomas Camilleri (Cinderella’s Prince) were funny and annoying in turns, while Stephen Oliver brought everything together very nicely as the Narrator.
Verdict: A taxing production, deftly delivered
Camilleri’s direction, coupled with a superb cast and crew that mostly shone cohesively, succeeded in bringing us an exquisitely crafted production that befits the boards of Teatru Manoel. Into The Woods is one of Sondheim’s most taxing works, never letting up whether we’re talking music, narrative or acting. There’s no ‘downtime’, and neither did Camilleri’s cast and crew need it, keeping the audience invested and mesmerised across the three hour stretch.
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I received no payment for this Into The Woods review and I was offered press tickets. The opinions expressed here are purely my own and the producers had no input/control over what I wrote. There are no affiliate links contained within this page.To learn more about my policies and my reviewing process, visit my Affiliate/Advertising disclosure page.