Interview: Elodie Boal and Chris Batkin from Redcliffe Musical Theatre's INTO THE WOODS

This week I was able to have a chat with Elodie Boal, director of Redcliffe Musical Theatre's Into the Woods and Christopher Batkin, the actor who brings the role of the Baker to life in the same production. Here's what they had to say...

VIRAG: You've transformed Sondheim's 'Into The Woods' into an immersive and interactive production. What inspired you to make that choice? Was it a project you've always dreamed of doing?

ELODIE: Part of my aesthetic as a director is to build a world that audiences can escape to. I really try to create an experience, so when an audiences enter a theatre space they're transported to another world, and as if they've really embarked on an adventure. This type of approach works well with Into The Woods, as the storyline and characters are literally doing the same thing. They're a great synergy between my approach and the play itself, which seems to meld together quite harmoniously.

Using immersive techniques, I find the play itself can be more impacting on audience. That is, if you can engage someone's senses, which is what I try to do, then the show becomes so much more encompassing. The audience is more likely to feel a certain way, and that creates a long-lasting memory or impression. After all, the senses engage those memories. I have found from productions that I've seen that have tried this, they just resonate with me so much longer.

Into The Woods has been on my bucket list. I am a huge fan of fractured fairytales, and looking at stories from a different perspective. I'm so lucky that the opportunity presented itself when it did. Plus, this piece feels so much more sombre to do with Sondheim's recent passing. I just hope we're doing him proud.

VIRAG: I imagine that choosing to adapt a very celebrated work in a time when there are a lot of uncertainties around covid and how that will affect the theatre industry can be quite daunting and stressful. Have you found that during this process you've had more butterflies than usual in your stomach due to the fear of disruptions?

ELODIE: We have had an extremely unique rehearsal process, especially with the rise and fall of COVID-cases around us. When we auditioned the show in November 2021, I was coming back from Victoria, so I got caught up in the whole Queensland border closures and waited almost two months for a border pass. So right from the start it was different as I had to go through audition submissions, while in quarantine to get back into Queensland. Then some of our team caught COVID, so we moved rehearsals online for a significant period. Then when we came back in the room, we had to maintain social distancing and mask-wearing, which is difficult when you're rehearsing a musical.

Artists in 2022, having gone through the devastation over the last two-years and these ever-changing circumstances, are resilient. I'm always in awe of everyone's constant ability to adapt. During this process, I've had to think of out-of-the-box ideas to get the most out of our rehearsals. For example, we blocked a large portion of the show with interactive maps on Zoom and drawing character tracks and walking routes - it was quite an experience! I think what most don't realise is that there's so much more that goes into the rehearsal period of a production now. There are many variables to consider. I won't stop having butterflies in my stomach until we're opened, and audiences are watching the show!

VIRAG: The age old question: Why Into the Woods and why now?

ELODIE: The approach we've taken for this show makes it relevant for today's audiences. It's not the classic and traditional approach that many previous productions of Into The Woods have taken. We haven't strayed down the safe path, we've ventured down the one with the spooky tree's and unsafe route!

From the start, we asked ourselves, what would fairytale characters look like today? And this concept has really provided us with the foundation to the whole visual concept. We've really explored the truth and reality behind Sondheim's characters, and why they are who they are. As such, the show is set it in a post-apocalyptic world that's out of the ordinary. It starts as if a human has stumbled on the last book of fairytales, and is reading their stories for the first time. The characters in show are brought to life by her imagination. So, their interpretation derives from what they might like in this dystopian universe ravened by pandemics and destruction.

Not to mention, there's also an underlying message in Into The Woods that centres on wishes and people wishing for more, or for change, or to escape. I feel a lot of us have done that in the last two years during the coronavirus pandemic, so the key takeaways hit home just a little harder in this fresh reimagination.

CHRIS: I mean, as far as "why now", Into the Woods is maybe the most timeless musical in Sondheim's body of work - it's set in a fantastical storybook land, using a bunch of characters which, thanks to Disney, we've all grown up with and will continue to grow up with forever.

But also Into the Woods is very entertaining! It's fun, and funny, and when it does start to verge into its darker themes it's still comes through that same lens of fairy-tale and magic. Its truly a musical for all ages.

VIRAG: What's it been like bringing to life a Sondheim musical so recently after his passing? Do you feel like the lyrics, score and characters hit more?

ELODIE: Sondheim left such a mark on this world, and his songs and stories have been so influential in the lives of every musical theatre performer. I'm honoured to be able to tackle this work - it's so complex and detailed, and Sondheim was pure genius. There are messages in his music, and when you spend so much time with them like we have, they unravel in such words of wisdom. I like to think of him as a Giant in the Sky looking down on us artists now. I hope we do him, and fans of his work, proud.

CHRIS: It was certainly a surreal experience during the audition process - that morning I sent through my audition tape, congratulated myself for a job well done, and then checked social media only to immediately learn that Sondheim had passed. And as an actor I feel an extra pressure to make sure I do a particularly good job in this performance, as it will almost certainly be the first Sondheim show that so many people in our audience have been able to see since his death.

But also yes, absolutely, of course this story hits more, hits different. Stephen Sondheim, this incredible storyteller has crafted this beautiful score all about stories, the people who tell them and why, and of course it's a story about loss, and death, but also new life, and how that cycle continues. Hearing Stephanie, the actor playing the Baker's Wife, in the final section of our show singing the lines "do not let it grieve you, no-one leaves for good", has for me been a particular moment of connection with Sondheim himself, and the idea that a person is only really gone once no-one remembers them (in which case the man will outlive us all!)

VIRAG: (To Chris) What's it like to be play the narrator of such an iconic work of musical theatre? Is it a role that you've always wanted to play? I imagine it must be so lovely to watch the story unfold both from your eyes as the character and from the actors eyes watching your cast mates shine on stage

CHRIS: The Baker is a role I've always wanted to play, and it has been so wonderful to engage with this story that I have seen so many times in a number of different interpretations, and decide for myself how this character works. One of the great things about this show is that because of how the different narratives interact, all of the actors get the chance to act alongside almost everyone else at one point or another, and it is great getting to play with everyone, in both the little bits as well as the big, crowded scenes.

VIRAG: What do you hope that the audience to takes away when they leave the theatre?

ELODIE: I really hope that they see, hear, feel or smell something makes them feel or sets of a visceral response. I hope they find something in the show that creates impact and meaning so that they remember the production years to come. I also want them to know how much they mean to us - we do theatre for our audiences. Their courage to come out in a pandemic and support us means a lot, especially to the cast and creatives in this show who are next generation of artists coming through the other side of a pandemic.

CHRIS: So to me at least, ultimately Into the Woods is a story about being mindful of how our actions impact the world around us. So alongside the catharsis of a well-told story, I would hope that that mindfulness is what we're helping encourage in our audience members.

Into the Woods is running from the 17th Feb - 5th March at Theatre 102, Redcliffe.

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