Into the Woods

In this production of into the woods, the talented young performers of ACT-1 weave together characters from classic tales like Jack and the Beanstalk, Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Little Red Riding hood. The characters are each on their own journeys in various parts of the woods as they perform iconic Sondheim compositions, inevitably intersecting paths and interrupting each other’s progress. A fourth wall breaking narrator helps to keep the plot straight as all the characters venture through the woods on their intertwined quests. 

For a new take on this well loved and often produced classic, I wanted to set the story within a magical and dilapidated old treehouse. I was inspired by the idea that the kids of the cast stumbled upon a mysterious treehouse in the woods, entered and became enchanted as their characters to tell us the tale of Into the Woods. Many of the props used throughout the show were taken from the set onstage when needed for a scene. Rapunzel’s tower for example was an old wooden ladder clad with an Ivy print fabric, from the top she sings a lament and lets down her long hair. In a dramatic battle scene between the big bad wolf and other characters, a bedsheet serves as a projection surface for shadow play.

The planks on the walls were made from fence pickets that were cut to different lengths, the long hardwood sticks were scavenged off the internet, and the branches hanging above were real felled branches that I picked up off the side of the road after a storm. Much of the set dressing items were borrowed or very cheap off the used market so altogether the set was inexpensive and authentically encompassed the “lost and found” aesthetic I was looking for. I also incorporated many small objects that hint to lines throughout the show; a rolling pin and muffin tins for the baker, and a wagon wheel from Cinderella’s carriage, you may even find an opportunistic plush mouse.