Into The Woods review: a perfect rendition of the Sondheim classic

Of course, when performed in local theatres across the UK, the tales have stupendously silly scripts. But the stories are actually much darker, something Sondheim clearly takes inspiration from in Into The Woods.

It’s a musical mash-up of the Grimms’ greatest hits: Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel. The stories, alongside a new storyline about a baker and his wife, are weaved together to create one plot.

The baker and his wife are the main characters - they’re tasked with finding particular items in the woods in order for the evil witch to lift a spell off the couple. That takes up the first half, but then it all falls apart.

In the second half, the town is destroyed by falling beanstalks, accidentally planted by Jack. Much of the cast ends up dead and the remaining few are left to fight the giant.

We’re led through the story by a narrator, played by Michael Gould, who becomes involved in the story at times too. Gould is my star of the show - he’s funny, authoritative and sharp.

The set, particularly the woodland scene, is top-notch. Creative lighting makes it feel like it’s a large, expansive and scary area.

The music is wonderful and technically difficult to perform too. You’ll leave humming the title song and plenty others too.

It’s a very fast-paced production: there’s a lot of story to get through. That does make it quite stressful at times. I went after a particularly busy day and found it pretty difficult to unwind.

But it’s a truly marvellous story, performed by a very strong cast.

The Bridge Theatre has been home to many triumphs in recent years, including A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Guys and Dolls. I think we can safely add Into The Woods to that list.

Into The Woods is at the Bridge Theatre until May 2026.