Review: Into The Woods, National Student Drama Festival

This review has been taken from my NSDF blog, written for the Peter de Haan Charitable Trust.

Steven Sondheim's Into The Woods is the only musical of the festival offering its audience a chance to see what happens after ‘happily ever after' in that land, far, far away, and its light, bubbly music enchants its audience early on. The performance however does not replicate this fantastical quality and the show falls flat, lacking the essential sparkle a musical needs, consequently losing the audience's attention. This causes the pace to feel slow with the show never hitting the high notes required instead plodding along in the middle of its range. The design is visually striking with its innovative wooden ladders and maypole like streamers but this is clumsily used whilst the utilisation of some of the company as Wood Nymph scene-shifter dancers is a decision never properly justified. Britain Fleming's Baker's Wife and Oliver Thompson's Prince Charming are standouts in a cast which otherwise felt tired, Thompson especially accessing the subtext of his part and giving the show some great gestic comedy moments. That is all the show currently has though: moments. It does have the potential and the band give a fine performance but the actual stage action is sadly lacking.

Into The Woods: **
Image courtesy of UCL Bloomsbury Theatre.