Review: INTO THE WOODS at Det Norske Teatret – Not Totally Happily Ever After

Heidi Gjermundsen Brock gives a smashing performance as the witch in Stephen Sondheim's 'Into the Woods'. While the production is musically impressive the end result is sadly underwhelming.

"Into The Woods" is an original, if convoluted, mashup combining Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel. This musical imaginatively studies the hard line between fantasy and reality, and the need to take responsibility for our actions. If the Baker (Kristoffer Olsen) and his wife (Kjersti Dalseide) are to have the child they wish for, they must first break a spell cast by the neighboring Witch (Heidi Gjermundsen Broch), complying with her bizarre requests by embarking on a scavenger hunt through the world's most memorable fairy-tales. And that's only act one...

Into the Woods has some of Sondheim's wittiest lyrics as well as some beautiful melodies in between the basic theme. A theme which infuses every number. The score has aged gracefully, with all its storybook narrative and clever wordplay. But a few of the compelling themes have gotten lost in this production. The imaginative fairytale-feel never really finds its footing and the plot feels overly long all of a sudden.

This musical has a rather complicated plot, and if I didn't know the source material beforehand, I would have lost a lot of important information along the way. This is mostly due to a very strange direction by Ole Anders Tandberg, which would suit an opera better than a musical. Everyting from direction, design and costumes feel very "conceptual". The storybook characters are written as caricatures by Lapine/Sondheim, and the attempt on overly emphasizing every character feels more like a deterrent rather than exciting.

The Baker and his wife should feel real and relatable, but here Kristoffer Olsen and Kjersti Dalseide are portraying them as a dysfunctional, toxic and slightly abusive couple. While these elements are indeed in the original text, it is highlighted to the maximum in this adaptation. In addition to their flaws they should embody warmth and lots of humor.

Heidi Gjermundsen Brock was made to play the witch and is truly remarkable. She manages to show all the gradations of this wonderful character. Mimmi Tamba gives a strong Cinderella, and the part is also well suited for the timber and vibrato in here voice. Ina Sweeningdal serves both as Little Red Riding Hood/narrator as well as the giant. Her performance is charismatic and steady. I feel the live video blown up faces used for the giant is a little unfit, but that's not her fault. It was a wonderful gimmick in "Lazarus" and several productions after that, but now it feels rather old. The use of it during "Giants in the sky" where Sweeningdal does some rather borderline obscene stuff to a doll "upstages" Jack, played very well by Vetle Bergan. It's a shame since the words he sings are important to the plot. Now they get drowned in cheap laughter. The princes played by Pål Christian Eggen and Joakim Ousdal sing beautifully, but the costumes and wigs make them rather silly, which I guess is the point in this version. The erect cod piece grew old really quickly, though.

Musically speaking this production sounds great, and Svenn Erik Kristoffersen leads the orchestra with precision. I love the acoustic sound, and likewise the audio mix is pleasant to the ear, and you can hear the text clearly.

But on the technical side this was rather messy. During the first half of act one, which is has a lot of exposition in it, some of the scenes were played to the upstage area because the house wasn't turned around enough for us to see what is going on. Obviously a technical glitch, but there were far too many technical glitches with this house and lighting during the evening.

While "Into the Woods" was first announced it would open in Norway back in 1991 (by den norske Opera), it took thirty years (including a pandemic) before it finally opened. The end result has many high points along the way but what is presented feels underdeveloped and rushed through. The creative team have undoubtedly worked hard on presenting a new "fresh" take, but if it isn't broke don't fix it.

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• Actors: Ina Svenningdal, Mimmi Tamba, Vetle Bergan, Kristoffer Olsen, Kjersti Dalseide, Paul Åge Johannessen, Trine Bariås, Silje Lundblad, Hilde Olaussen, Ingrid Jørgensen Dragland, Heidi Gjermundsen Broch, Iren Reppen, Ola G. Furuseth, Pål Christian Eggen, Julie Støp Husby, Joakim H. Ousdal.
• Director: Ole Anders Tandberg
• Translation: Runar Gudnason
• Designer: Erlend Birkeland
• Costumes: Maria Geber
• Choreograph: Belinda Braza
• Lightingdesign: Ellen Ruge
• Soundesign: Morten Alexander Jorsett
• Photos: Erik Berg

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