Into the Woods – Noël Coward Theatre

Laura Pitt-Pulford and John Dagleish in Into the Woods at the Noël Coward Theatre, London. Picture: Johan Persson

Into the Woods continues at the Noël Coward Theatre, London until 9 January 2027.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

As the stage went black and applause filled the Noël Coward Theatre, a gentleman sitting behind me in row H of the stalls confessed to his friend that he assumed Into the Woods was a one-act musical that had finished when the curtain came down for the first time.

He may not have been alone in falling for that assumption. So strong and satisfying were the opening 90 minutes that the audience could surely have headed home happy at 9pm. This, however, is a tale of two halves. More precisely, it is a tale of many tales of two halves – and they come together wonderfully well.

The Bridge Theatre’s revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s masterpiece was magnificent. It has lost none of its power, energy, depth or fun for taking the short journey across London and the adoption of many new cast members.

Fortunately, not everyone has left.

Back for more is Kate Fleetwood as the Witch, whose early deal with the Baker (John Dagleish) and the Baker’s Wife (Laura Pitt-Pulford) instigates the story’s principal narrative thread. It is the Witch that dominates a thrilling opening scene in which the stage is black and barren save for a large wooden table. In those early interactions Fleetwood becomes a strange but sublime combination of Kenneth Williams at his most outrageous and Catherine Tate’s nan. She is a vile, grotesque, ugly old woman yet deliciously camp all the same.

The whole thing is extravagantly camp, particularly the first half and never more so than when Cinderella’s Prince and Rapunzel’s Prince come together for their crowd-pleasing duet ‘Agony’. Matthew Seadon-Young – who also excels as the Wolf – and Lucas Koch milk the moment for everything it’s worth, expressing at that point unrequited love for their ladies while at the same time looking longingly into each other’s eyes.

The pair are helped in their flamboyant ways by Tom Scutt’s costumes and set design. Indeed, Scutt’s brilliance is all over this production. The first appearance of the woods is a theatrical moment in itself. They never lose their fairy tale wonder, with characters darting in and out of view, one second appearing from behind a tree, the next second disappearing behind foliage.

For that we must thank director Jordan Fein, whose 2024 revival of Fiddler on the Roof rightly garnered widespread acclaim. Fein, who also worked with Scutt on that Regent’s Park production of that show (currently touring Australia), excels on every level.

Doing the same from a cast perspective is another principal returning cast member, Gracie McGonigal, whose horribly greedy, sticky bun-gobbling Little Red Ridinghood is often so dislikeable that in her encounter with the Wolf, you can find yourself rooting for him, not her.

Keith Ramsay does a great job as Jack, perfectly capturing how the young boy grows older without ever really maturing. Julie Jupp adds to the show’s pantomime feel as Jack’s Mother and Simbi Akande’s Cinderella is convincing as a princess who only really wants to escape her appalling family.

More than anything, here is a production that truly does justice to Sondheim’s exquisite music and lyrics. The singing, staging and storytelling are all superb.

Lest there be any doubt, the briefly confused gentleman in row H was delighted he stayed to the end.

Lee Mottershead