"Through the trees"

While productions of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairy-tale compilation musical often focus on the going “into” the woods, the Théâtre du Châtelet’s French national premiere of Into the Woods (April 1-12, 2014), directed by Lee Blakeley, focused on “the woods.” Designed by Alex Eales, the vast revolving stage featured a forest and hilly terrain, complete with giant trees stretching into the flies. The massive scale made the characters vulnerable emotionally as they negotiated wishes and desires. And often more poignantly,
it challenged them physically in their struggles, as choreographed by Lorena Randi. A needlepoint front curtain (depicting the houses of the Baker, Cinderella and Jack, and bearing the musical’s first line, “Once upon a time”) belied the dangers and obstacles ahead, while Mark Bouman’s costumes helped to camouflage and reveal characters in the shadowy woods.