A note from the directors…
Good evening and welcome to the woods!
At first glance, Into the Woods is a seemingly frivolous play full of fairytale characters, far off lands, and happy endings. Sondheim, however, had a very different plan as he wove together these childhood stories. In fact, he starts and ends this story with the most simple and relatable words, “I wish.” In the first act we see our characters wish for something that they think will make them happy; a prince, a child, more money. They tell us exactly what they want and they go into the woods to find it. Their journeys are hard, the choice of which path to take is not always clear, and in the end each of our characters make choices along the way that will impact their lives forever.
Whereas Act One tells the story of life as a fairytale, Act Two sits heavier as our storybook characters begin to face the realities of life; love, loss, and heartbreak. In the end, we see that characters who seemed so different from us in the beginning are, in fact, just like us; people simply looking for happiness and facing the consequences of their actions, and sometimes realizing that the fairytale ending that they longed for is just that; a fairytale.
Do our characters find happiness in the end? Did they make the right choices along the way? Was the thing they so desperately wished for worth the price they ultimately paid? Are we all ever really out of the woods? That is up to you to decide. In the words of Sondheim, “We are all hopeful, all flawed, all wandering in the woods and hoping to find our way home.” What will you do next time you hear yourself saying those two simple words, “I wish…”
Liz McGahey and Lee Lowery - your directors
