Into The Woods – Bridge Theatre ★★★★★ 

By The Recs IT 5 months ago

The Bridge Theatre’s ‘Into The Woods’ is a gasp-inducing production that soars into the treetops

Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods has been revived so successfully over the last few decades that any new production is always going to have to fight hard to justify itself. The Bridge Theatre’s new staging doesn’t only do that; it boldly announces its arrival.

For a musical that revolves around the tension between fairytale fantasy and adult reckoning, director Jordan Fein’s vision is the most complete and confidently realised in recent memory. The 2010 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production impressed us with its embracing of nature by letting the literal woods surround it, and the beautiful 2007 Royal Opera House Linbury staging impressed with its ingenuity, but the Bridge Theatre’s design surpasses them both with its creativity and spectacle.

Sondheim and James Lapine’s show intertwines familiar fairy-tale characters, Cinderella, Little Red Ridinghood, Rapunzel, and more, as their journeys collide in an enchanted wood. A childless Baker and his Wife set out to lift a curse placed by a Witch, sending them on a path that entangles them with every other tale. Act 1 delivers the happy endings we might expect, but Act 2 unravels them all, exposing the consequences of magical wishes granted. What begins as playful fantasy deepens into the rich exploration of responsibility.

Images by Johan Persson

After a witty and impressive ‘Prologue’, the curtain glides away to reveal designer Tom Scutt’s full, sweeping wood of life-size trees, stretching upwards beyond the proscenium like a real forest. It is the first time in any London production that we have seen a physical, believable ‘woods’ of this scale, and immediately the show’s title lands. Act I plays out within this lush, immersive environment, the trees shifting effortlessly throughout some scenes, creating a setting for the intersecting stories. Then in Act 2, the trees are found broken, splintered, and trampled by the giant’s unseen assault. The reveal is impressive, as where many productions might hint at destruction, this one makes you experience it. Scutt’s costume design also deserves its own ovation. They are clever and practical in equal measure, delivering storybook silhouettes blended with earthy texture, always telling us exactly who a character is. Nothing is overdone, and everything feels designed with precision. 

This production features a cast that stuns, so much so that it’s hard to do anything but praise them all, but several performances deserve special spotlight. Jo Foster’s Jack is skilfully delivered with the right balance of immaturity and boyish confidence; their ‘Giants in the Sky‘, whilst not trying to reinvent the wheel, is solid and enjoyable.  The Princes, Oliver Savile and Rhys Whitfield, are exactly as they must be: ridiculously handsome, hopelessly vain, and musically pristine. Their ‘Agony‘ duet is a masterclass in comic timing, delivered with operatic bravado that hits every note and lyric. Little Red Ridinghood (Gracie McGonigal) is a role that can make or break this show, but her performance is a welcome revelation, cheeky, fearless, and sung with beautiful brightness. The scene with the Wolf, also played by Oliver Savile, is one of the production’s thrills. It’s playful but genuinely ‘biting’ to watch.

Rapunzel (Bella Brown) recently seen as alternate Eva in Evita at the Palladium, proves again that she is one of the most flawless emerging actresses in London’s musical theatre industry. Her shimmering soprano fills The Bridge with seemingly effortless vocal prowess. It is a small role, but one she elevates with emotional truth. The Cinderella of this production, Chumisa Dornford-May, is quite simply perfection. With a résumé that reads like a who’s who of musical theatre leads despite only having graduated from drama school in 2023, she brings a voice of stunning warmth and luminous storytelling. Her ‘On The Steps of the Palace‘ is delivered with such clarity and intelligence that the song feels like Sondheim himself had written it for her.

At the emotional core are the Baker, Jamie Parker, and the Baker’s Wife, Katie Brayben (both Olivier Award winners), and this production’s pair do not disappoint. They are the bedrock of the show, honest, grounded, and beautifully sung. Their beautiful chemistry anchors the fairy-tale chaos and gives the second act its truly emotional peak.

But it is Kate Fleetwood as the Witch who delivers what we must believe is a career-defining performance. She is ferocious but funny, and, after her final transformation, heartbreakingly human, with all the ruthlessness that can involve. Her ability to deliver Sondheim’s text with both thrilling clarity and equal precision is spellbinding. It is a performance that matches the foundations Bernadette Peters set in the show’s original 1987 Broadway cast.

What truly distinguishes this revival is Fein’s direction; it succeeds in being inventive and thoughtful but without being showy and remains deeply theatrical and true to the piece. The whole show feels both intimate and epic and never forgets the deep humanity that underpins the magic of Sondheim’s creation. To match this, Mark Aspinall’s musical direction is full of rich and dynamic moments. Truly sublime.

Aideen Malone’s lighting does more than illuminate her brilliant cast; she animates the woods. You catch flitting shadows of birds and the suggestion of branches rustling with unseen creatures, something we have never seen on stage before, and it’s superbly delivered. The sound production from Adam Fisher and his team deserves high commendation. There is a rarity, almost a miracle, in Sondheim shows, to be faced with perfect diction, but in this show every consonant is crisp, and every rhyme completely audible. The team have ensured that every lyrical twist is delivered with absolute clarity, and considering they are faced with one of Sondheim’s most intricate scores, it is a genuine gift to be able to hear and savour every single word.

Where the 2007 Linbury production charmed and the 2010 Regent’s Park staging impressed, the Bridge Theatre’s Into the Woods soars. It takes all the experiences of its predecessors and then pushes the show deeper into the woods and deeper into what makes Sondheim’s masterpiece resonate. And perhaps, “perhaps“, this is the way the show should always be done… “But that’s another story; never mind, anyhow, so the next day came…”

See the woods for the trees ★★★★★ 5 stars

Into The Woods Tickets

Into The Woods at The Bridge Theatre is currently booking until 30 May 2026

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