Into the Woods

A detailed Summary of Into the Woods

Into the Woods, by Stephen Sondheim, blends various familiar fairy tales into an original story of a childless Baker and his Wife, who catalyze the action of the story by attempting to reverse a curse on their family in order to have a child. In the first act, the characters set out to achieve their goal of living "Happily Ever After" through familiar routes and at the end of Act I, all characters seem poised to live "Happily Ever After". Act Two, however, deals with the consequences that traditional fairy tales conveniently ignore. As they face a genuine threat to their community, they realize that all actions have consequences, and their lives are inescapably interdependent, but also that that interdependence is their greatest strength.

Act one begins with an introduction of the main characters, many of whom need little or no introduction. Henry Austin Bragg and Emily Gatesman are comically wonderful as the Baker and the Baker's Wife, which are the two central characters, and Wendy Fox plays the Wicked Witch, who splendidly portrays the motherly side of a witch. Erin Sauter plays Cinderella, who is terribly confused about what she wants, Kevin Quillon plays Jack, whose greed starts to take over what little common sense he

a child". Also, the conflict between the Baker and his Wife and the Witch is resolved when they collect all the items and the spell is broken. The other main characters in the play have conflicts with the Baker and the Baker's Wife who are after their personal belongings. We also see conflict between Rapuzel, played by Brook Kotarides and the Witch, who has taken a motherly role in Rapuzel's life and locked her in a tower for many years to protect her from the world. In addition, Cinderella's Prince, played by Michael Handry and Rapunzel's Prince, played by Brian Laylock face conflict in finding the ladies they so desperately desire. All the conflict in the first act is charmingly resolved and everyone lives "happily ever after" or at least so we assume. The main conflict that faces the characters in the second act is the giant that has come down the bean stalk after Jack and who starts killing off characters till she gets what she came after. This conflict is resolved!

The props were incredible and very important to the play. The cow on wheels, the remote control chicken, and the magic stick that belonged to the witch were some of my favorites. In addition, the costumes were fantastic and authentically revealed the personality of the characters before they even had an opportunity to speak. The witch's costume was my favorite, which included a long purple cape that dramatically billowed out as she exited the stage. The other costume I really enjoyed belonged to Jack, because it told us so much about him. For example, the tightness of the clothes the patches and worn spots covering his overalls and shirt told us that he was too poor to buy new clothes. Also the little flap that was partially unbuttoned in the back revealed to us that he was careless. The other special effects, such as the smo

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Approximate Word count = 1225
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts