Joseph Rowntree Theatre – until Saturday 29th April 2023
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
3 ½ ***
Last night I visited Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York, a local community theatre. It is fantastic that York has such a wealth of venues that cater for live theatre, we are so lucky. NE, a York am-dram group, is currently performing Into The Woods at this warm and welcoming theatre.
Into The Woods is a mishmash of characters from the Brothers Grimm fairy tales. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, it premiered on Broadway in 1987 before hitting the big screen with a Disney film in 2014. The main characters are taken from Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella, the latter being my favourite fairy tale.
Before the show even started, we had elves running up and down the aisles, with birds flying through the air, setting the scene for what lay ahead. Narrated by Steve Tearle, who also plays the Mysterious Man and is the shows director, it follows the story of a baker (Chris Hagyard) and his wife (Perri Barley), who are desperate to have a child, but unbeknownst to them a witch (Pascha Turnbull) had placed a curse on them. For the spell to be reversed they are tasked gather a list of items – a blood-red cape, a milk-white cow, a slipper of gold and hair as yellow as corn. Off into the woods they venture to fulfil their quest.
Along the way they meet Cinderella (Rebecca Jackson), her Prince Charming (Sam Richardson), Rapunzel (Juliette Brenot), her Prince (Kristian Barley), Jack (Jack Hambleton) and Red Riding Hood (Missy Barnes, who shares the role with Molly Surgenor). The show gives us a condensed version of their stories that we all know so well. We see them fall in love, find their riches, defeat evil, but happily ever after that comes at the end of act one is not the end of this tale. Act two we soon come to expect the unexpected. You’ll have to get along to JRT to find out what happens next, though I will say we get to meet a lady giant (Helen Greeley)!
Tearle does a fabulous controlling the action, even with his wardrobe malfunction, trousers around ankles, which we spied at the side of the stage. He is very personable and comfortable to be at the helm of proceedings. He was certainly rocking those elf ears and costume.
Jackson as Cinderella gave a strong performance with her singing and just the right amount of sass. I was impressed with Hagyard and Hambleton’s vocals, both owning the stage whilst singing. Hambleton’s dealings with the milk-white cow, complete with her powder puff, were hilarious, and sometimes raised an eyebrow. I have seen Hambleton in a previous show, he shone then and I’m glad to say that shine has not diminished. I enjoyed the interaction between the two princes, and loved the camp, but not so charming Prince Charming.
The staging was inventive using camouflage netting, masses of it, large scaffolding towers on wheels, which were rotated by the ensemble cast to change scenes. The costumes, designed by Paul Shriek, were vibrant, accessorised by some very high sparkly shoes, and no expense was spared. You really felt you were in a fairy tale.
I must shout out to the musical director Scott Phillips. Not only was it great to hear a live band under his leadership, but the enthusiasm he showed whilst conducting was infectious. He was so resplendent in his colourful outfit and sparkly tiara.
On opening night there were a few hitches with the sound and the microphones delay in picking up some of the actors when they were speaking. This was quite evident when the giant was speaking, but this hiccup only added to the laughter. I’m sure that this will improve as the week goes on.
This had a large cast, the youngest being six, packing out the stage. It is always great to see so many adults and children wanting to share their love of theatre and I’m in awe of anyone who can get up on stage and perform to an audience. I must say hats off to NE for choosing Into The Woods to perform. It is an ambitious undertaking and though there were a few problems along the way they did the story proud. They all worked so hard to provide us with an entertaining evening, full of musical fantasy. Thank you to everyone involved.