Tag Archives: Cockpit Theatre

Into the Woods – 4 Stars

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Woods

Into the Woods

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 25th May 2018

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“a hugely complex work with multi-layered lessons and warnings”

 

Sondheim and Lapine’s Tony Award winning musical, β€˜Into the Woods’, is transported imaginatively to the 21st century by Tim McArthur in a slick and entertaining production. It illustrates the timelessness of fairy tales, the messages they convey and, more importantly, the ones they don’t. β€˜Cinderella’, β€˜Little Red Riding Hood’, β€˜Jack and the Bean Stalk’ and β€˜Rapunzel’ are woven together by the plight of a baker and his wife who must undo a spell of infertility cast on them by a wicked witch. In Act One we enjoy the familiar stories as they all wish for their dreams and enter the woods – the big, brutal world – in pursuit of them. Their quests successful and desires fulfilled, they can live happily ever after. Or can they? Act Two unravels these aspirations, the consequences of how they are achieved, followed by disillusionment, responsibility, revenge, loss … and, ultimately, the many realisations of adulthood, including the underlying fascination for what lies in the woods.

The array of contemporary, larger-than-life roles fits effortlessly together. Some, however, find a more rounded definition than others: Jamie O’Donnell steals the show with his beautifully detailed interpretation of Jack, giving him depth and pathos, and his mother (Madeleine MacMahon) draws a wonderful picture of his background with her strong personality. Michele Moran, as the witch, arouses both fear and sympathy and Cinderella (Abigail Carter-Simpson) and Red Riding Hood (Florence Odumosu) depict a more human and questioning side to their personalities from the beginning. As the narrator, Jordan Michael Todd skilfully creates his own charismatic persona, embedding himself surreptitiously into the action while drawing us in as the storyteller.

The ensemble singing is tightly coordinated and well-balanced but the individual voices are less consistent. Both Jo Wickham and Tim McArthur show their professional musical theatre experience and there are many strong newcomers, but a few are, on occasions, overshadowed by the band. Aaron Clingham (Musical Director) and his musicians provide the perfect accompaniment to the performance.

Staged in the round, we are wrapped up in the comings and goings of the play, with wood chippings underfoot. Joana Dias’ set design of assorted ladders gives the feeling of a play for adults, offset by the rudimentary props. The lighting (Vittorio Verta) ably fashions the dappled sunlight and shadows in the woods as well as the fairy-tale special effects.

β€˜Into the Woods’ is a hugely complex work with multi-layered lessons and warnings. The overriding theme appears as β€œBe careful what you wish for” but there is also a powerful point made to parents: β€œBe careful what you say, children may listen”. Mothers and fathers figure prominently, accepting or otherwise the repercussions of their parenting. It broaches the subjects of blame and greed, reinforces the supportive nature of survival and addresses our natural sense of adventure – do we want to live happily ever after or do we want to live life? Tim McArthur’s astute direction brings out these ideas and makes them relevant.

 

Reviewed by Joanna HetheringtonΒ 

Photography by David Ovenden

 


Into the Woods

Cockpit Theatre until 24th June

 

Related
Also directed by Tim McArthur
Hot Lips & Cold War | β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜…β˜… | London Theatre Workshop | February 2018

 

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Cantata for Four Wings – 1 Star

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Cantata

Cantata for Four Wings

Cockpit Theatre

Reviewed – 17th April 2018

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“The script is definitely in need of work in order to keep the audience empathetic and interested”

 

Robert Brutter’s Cantata for Four Wings at the Cockpit Theatre is a religiously-loaded hour long show which combines suicide with angels, God and self-forgiveness. After a woman, played by Sylwia Kaczmarek, tries to commit suicide (in a rather over-dramatic and hard to believe sort of way), two angels, Judy Turan and Aaron Vodovoz, come to her rescue in an attempt to stop her from committing the sin, and therefore β€˜ruining God’s Plan’. What follows is an hour of rather odd divine intervention, and a plot which is simplistic yet completely hard to follow.

The script has not translated from the original Polish especially well, and this ruins the moments of comedy and any moments of resonance become underwhelming. The β€˜message’ that the audience are meant to take away is completely transparent, handed to them on a plate with no further contemplation necessary. This gives the play an almost condescending tone, as if it were intended for children who want to learn about religion and self-forgiveness.

The three person cast worked well together, but their acting was mostly over-dramatic and unrealistic. Whilst consideration has to be given that English might not be their first language, a lot of lines were spoken clumsily with emphasis in the wrong places. Director Lukasz Lewandowski also sometimes placed actors with their back to the audience as they spoke, making it hard to stay focussed on anything they were saying. Any sympathy for the suicidal woman is removed when her backstory and reasons for wanting to die are blurted out in the space of two minutes. The script is definitely in need of work in order to keep the audience empathetic and interested throughout.

Wojtek Kaj Ryalski’s set was simple, a mattress on the floor, a Christmas tree (which was never actually explained) and a wardrobe made of fabric, which doubled as a shadow screen in a particularly confusing part of the play, in which woman and angel swapped bodies. There was also somewhat random use of a smoke machine and a rather bright spotlight which shined awkwardly on some parts of the audience, making it hard to actually see what was going on onstage without squinting.

Whilst described as a β€˜tragi-comic reflection’, Cantata for Four Wings is more of an hour of religious advertising that needs some work on maintaining a slower plot reveal and more subtlety in its message.

 

Reviewed by Charlotte Cox

 


Cantata for Four Wings

Cockpit Theatre

 

 

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