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Amateur Theatre Reviews |
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Into the WoodsBy Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine Once Upon a time… Stephen Sondheim's award winning Drama came to Edinburgh last week courtesy of young Edinburgh theatre company The Melodramatics. Sondheim's musical tells the story of a variety of fairytale characters searching for that special something. As their stories intertwine when they meet each other in the woods it looks like everyone will live happily ever after but when Act Two opens this appears to be untrue and they all face an uncertain future as a Giant seeks revenge for the death of her husband… will anyone get out the woods this time? Susie Dumbreck directs this fairytale adventure with a wonderful set by Veronica Roberts and enchanting costumes by Maggie Moffat. The staging of the piece and the set enables the actors to tell their stories in a perfect way, drawing in the audience to this fairytale world. In theory there are five single stories in this musical; Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood, Rupunzel and The Bakers Wife. Each story is brought together by the needs of a Wicked Witch. Cinderella, played by Natalie Douglas, followed the typical story of meeting her Prince Charming and then his search for her. Douglas had great stage presence and gave a Walt Disney performance from start to finish. Her singing shone throughout the show and her acting ability enabled old and young to be engaged in her performance. Her Prince, Philip Doyle, also gave a strong performance as the comical Royal. Jack (Jonathan McGarrity) gave a superb performance as the dumb boy with great chemistry between himself and Aileen Scott Johnson, his mother. Both actors worked well together and created some nice comedy moments within the play. McGarrity's singing in 'Giant's in the Sky' did not match his acting quality, but this could be forgiven for his wonderful duet in Act Two with the Baker. The Baker (Stirland E Martin) and the Baker's Wife (Gabrielle Pavone) really pull this whole story together as they search for the ingredients sought after by the Witch (Joanne Murgatroyd) for a magical spell, their reward for these ingredients is the birth of a long awaited child. Pavone and Martin work well together both giving strong singing performances however at times Martin's acting is not as strong as Pavone and she commands the stage during their scenes. Martin really comes into his own after the Baker's wife dies in Act Two, enabling an engaging performance at the end that I found we were lacking before. Pavone, throughout the play, gives a strong powerful performance drawing in her audience in every scene she is in, using simple storytelling to engage. Little Red's character, played by Fiona Mitchell, showed aspects of a modern teenager struggling to find an identity, where everything is based on violence and instead of a baseball cap or hoodie she has a cape. This created some great comedy moments on stage. Mitchell really shines in this role and steals the show with her cheeky and not so innocent portrayal of the girl in red. Both her acting and singing quality makes her stand out as a wonderful all rounder and I hope we see more of her soon. A special mention must go to Graham Mackay-Bruce who gave a dazzling performance as Rupunzel's Prince. Mackay-Bruce really knows how to own the stage and the quality in which he acts and sings is brilliant - recreating a Prince Edward, from the new Disney film 'Enchanted', quality to his role, making both old and young swoon when he entered the stage. The weak link in this production, sadly, is The Witch. Murgatroyd fails to deliver in either the acting or singing in this key character. She does have presence on stage but she struggles to hit the notes in two of her solos and misses the comedy within the role to bring it to life, making it hard to believe in her and feel sorry for her when she looses the one person close to her. She lacked emotion. Dumbreck's directing really gives scope for the actors to find the light and shade within this wonderful story, the stage pictures she has created could have came straight out of a fairytale book. With an excellent band led by Moray Nairn this really is a wonderful family outing. And do they all live happily ever after? Mmm… that would be telling! You'll have to enter the woods yourself to see! John Naples-Campbell
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