Into the Woods- Theatre Critique On the night of November 15, 2012, I once again entered the Texas

State University main-stage theater in hopes of a night full of entertainment and excellent musical theatre. The musical theatre department chose to produce Stephen Sondheims Into the Woods as this seasons main-stage musical. The play follows the story of three characters: a Baker, Cinderella, and Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk. As their stories are told each characters individual plot becomes intertwined with another characters until they must ultimately band together to solve a problem which faces them all. While the first act ends in fairy-tale fashion, the second act begins with the realities of living happily ever after. Eventually each characters wish for happily ever after becomes regret as they turn to normal life and complacency. The overall plot of the play pits the notion of an ultimate good against the subjective reality we face in todays society. While the play was a solid portrayal of a demanding script, weakness in costuming, dramatic timing, and character development blighted the possibility of the show rising above quality levels associated with collegiate theatre. From the opening number I was pleased with the vocal quality of each performer, even impressed with a particular few. I observed the set and lighting with hopes that it may suggest equally superior costuming, however, after only a few moments of inspection I discovered the completely lackadaisical approach this production took toward costuming. The playbill claimed that the setting was A kingdom far, far away yet, despite this claim, the costumes seemed to range anywhere from the modern period back to feudal Europe. It was a distraction trying to figure out why the Narrator wore a 1930s styled tuxedo while Jack wore completely modern apparel including blue-jeans and a poly-knit puffer vest. The Baker was often dressed in tweed, wool, and other traditionally country style fabrics, nevertheless, even his costume was struck

with the blinding blow of sartorial misdirection. For the entire second act the Baker wore a completely modern Dickies jacket along with a schoolbag one could find at any modern book store. Throughout the performance, Cinderellas evil step sisters wore fashions from the distinctively conservative Victorian age to modern high cut pencil skirts that could turn most mens heads by their lack of prudery. If the costume designer meant for this seemingly random selection of apparel to be a concept, it was not well defined or effective. The technical aspects of a show are often more important than the acting itself due to the nature of human perception. An audience must be whisked away to this fairy-tale land if they are expected to believe the outlandish events that occur throughout the night. And while the musical is, itself, a critique on the notion of a fairy tale and often parodies the excess of plot holes found in most fairy tales, it is no excuse to be sloppy with technical elements. Beyond the costumes there were other issues. The production as a whole portrayed a great disparity between its best qualities and its worst. Among the struggling elements of the show was dramatic timing. It appeared as if most of the ensemble was familiar with comedic timing and yet only a handful conveyed any knowledge of dramatic timing. Dramatic timing allows an actor to make the most of a line, or silence for that matter. The show is essentially a dark comedy. Moments of both happiness and utter hopelessness exist simultaneously throughout many scenes. Themes such as death, hatred, and loss are prevalent throughout the script and the motif of theft is especially focused upon. Despite the heavy subject matter, most of the cast remained ignorant of the appropriate emotions when conveying such substantial negativity. On multiple occasions the Baker mentioned the alleged death of his father in an apathetic and almost jocular manner. Upon discovering that his mother has been killed, Jack comically acted as if he had been grounded from watching television. In the second act, when the Baker decides to leave the group, and therefore his baby,

he takes no pause and quickly exits the stage. The severe lack of dramatic timing hindered the production from reaching the emotional depth possible in the script. Although most of the cast struggled in this regard, Cinderellas Prince exhibited prodigal knowledge of this skill. In his moment of divulgence with Cinderella during act two, he has few lines, most of which are shallow and trite. Despite the difficulties presented by the script, his use of dramatic timing made this one of the best moments in the entire play. The audience is led to believe the Prince to be a misogynistic, pompous, and unfaithful jerk; however, in his goodbye to Cinderella, I could not help but feel sorry for the characters loss. The moment serves to prove the power of dramatic timing. One of the less severe problems I found in the production was character development. Because of the nature of fairy tales, every role represented an archetype to which each audience member could attribute certain qualities and characteristics. This placed the burden on the actors shoulders of being all things to all people. While most actors managed to deliver a fully fleshed out character, the Witch particularly struggled. Throughout most of the night, the witch bobbled between trying to remain likable and trying to remain evil. The obvious confusion as to which direction to go with the character left the audience to interpret each motivation or decision between two different characters instead of one. Even when the Witch managed to convey a clear character choice, it still seemed shallow and without conscious effort. Eventually the witch seemed to find her way into a rhythm which, while it wasnt satisfying, made watching the performance less stress inducing. Despite the mishaps and weakness in the show, the evening was filled with quality entertainment. Had the problems with costuming, dramatic timing, and character development been resolved, I would have been stunned with the level of professionalism from a university

based company. The show would appeal to older audiences with a taste for dark and brash humor. I recommend all of those who find satire and parody amusing to attend. The production will be remembered as a pleasant, not spectacular, show.