Into the Woods

As a preface, I saw a production of Into the Woods at the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival this past August. I've seen and been in the production a couple times now, and feel that I know the story and remember the production I saw well enough to answer these questions.

1. My favorite character was probably the baker. In a show that punishes self-indulgent and selfish characters, I feel that the baker went through quite a heap of trouble for a very minor infraction. I felt his intentions were pure, and his actions were never horrendously selfish.

2. In the production I saw, my favorite actor was Britney Simpson, who played the baker's wife. I think she gave the character conviction, and made the audience sympathize with her. Even when the character is unfaithful to the baker and engages with the prince, she showed real conflict within herself.

3. The entire show is one long string of characters trying to get something for personal gain or selfish reason. I think the most clear instance of this is when the Wolf tries to trick Little Red into believing he was her grandma, causing her to lower her guard. The Wolf is trying to get Little Red to involuntarily offer herself as a meal. The verbs I could see here were deceive, convince, and reason.

4. The final number always gets me in this show. All thats left in the end are some of the few characters who were good at heart, and didn't commit some horrible act along the way. Before the closing reprise of the main theme comes about, the brief glimpse of the aftermath in "Children Will Listen" is beautifully haunting, and I think carries the most emotional weight in the whole show.