As I walk into the Shulman Auditorium in the Queen’s College I am greeted by curious eyes: I’m a strange new addition to the Into the Woods cast’s intimate ecosystem. Most of them lean into each other while listening to the directors’ instructions, giggling at whispered jokes. Others are shoeless and relaxed, their colourful socks sliding on the floor as they go over meticulous choreography. ‘And exactly who is that girl sitting in the audience with a notepad?’

 

But it doesn’t take much for me to be invited into their dynamic. As they start running through ‘First Midnight’—one of the most iconic songs of the musical—I find myself chuckling at the same time as the directors, all of us charmed by a particularly inspired line delivery by Eva Bailey, playing Cinderella (I won’t tell you which one; a reviewer has got to keep some mystery.) Fifteen actors roam the stage in impressive synchronicity, generating an infectious energy that makes me feel like a member of the group after just five minutes.

 

This friendly atmosphere seems to be the result of a conviviality actively encouraged by the directors. As I pull a couple of cast members aside to ask questions, they excitedly tell me of the theatre exercises they did and socials they have been to together: wine and cheese nights, pub quizzes, London trips to see musicals. “I had heard about Peach Productions before auditioning, and even knew about some of the directors’ work at OUDS in advance,” Ellen Taylor, playing the Steward, tells me. “But it wasn’t intimidating at all. They made sure to be so welcoming and accessible.” Luke Nixon, co-director along with Lydia Free, laughs shyly and waves his hand in dismissal at being called a ‘BNOC’ by a group of girls talking to me during a break. 

 

Lydia and Luke are both OUDS veterans in their fourth year, having both acted and worked behind the scenes during their time at Oxford. It is interesting that, as both of them returned to university after a year abroad and found themselves “knowing absolutely nobody,” they found themselves drawn to a musical tale about the importance of community. A third of the cast is made up of freshers, many taking part in their first ever production in Oxford—and at the Playhouse no less. The openness of the cast and crew is clear from the start; Lydia even jumps in to fill in some missing elements in the song being rehearsed. “Shall I be the cow?” she asks, to the cast’s delighted response. Their real-life dynamic seeps into the play, bolstering the credibility of the performances and the enthusiasm that overflows on to the stage. As I write this article, I can feel the increasing temptation of drawing an earnest parallel between the found family depicted in Into the Woods and the palpable familiarity of the cast. I am above falling for sentimentality, though… Well, not really. 

 

I have to ask them all: are you nervous? The responses are a mix of “I’m terrified” and “I’m so excited to share what we’ve been doing.” Oliver Spooner, playing the Narrator, tells me the cast often talks about the idea of the “magic of theatricality.” To all my fellow theatre laymen, I’ll explain. Theatre requires not only a suspension of disbelief from the audience, but the company’s recognition that they are actors, and their mission is to tell a fictional story. It is an unspoken pact between the people on stage and the people looking on, as if to wink and say, “let’s embark on this adventure together.” Because of this, the actors will do their warm-ups in front of the audience at the Playhouse stage—a recognition that this is all joyous play, and that they are inviting you to play along. 

 

This doesn’t mean the production is all laughs and no work. The rehearsal hours are rigorously demanding. The cast have been practicing since Michaelmas and arrived in Oxford two weeks before the start of Hilary to train, sometimes meeting more than four times a week. “This is the real degree, actually,” Ellen laughs. “But I will miss it a lot when it is all over.” 

 

For the directors, this has been an even longer process. Lydia and Luke got the rights for the play over a year ago. With all this time to plan, their vision of Into the Woods has also changed quite dramatically. Initially, their ambition was to have a hyper-maximalist take on the play—magic forest, fairy-tale costumes and all—which can be quite… difficult for a student production to achieve. They also had to navigate their creative partnership, learning how to communicate their vision clearly and openly, even when they disagreed. They reiterate that they didn’t fight at any point, and Lydia believes the artistic honesty helped consolidate their rapport. The friendship strengthened the play, and the play strengthened the friendship. 

 

Without betraying the essence of the musical, Luke and Lydia are also aiming to bring a fresh take to the classic. In their version, most of the characters are de-aged. The decision brings new dynamics to light, creating complexities the pair consider more compelling to an audience of university students. The relationship between Cinderella and the Baker’s Wife gains new life as an example of sorority and female solidarity. There is a new-found tension between Jack and the Baker—now closer mirrors of each other. This is not a simple word-for-word replay. “Wait, so you’re not trying to be the next James Corden?” I jokingly ask Theo Joly, playing the Baker. He responds with the skill of a media-trained actor: “Well, I don’t want to say anything about other people’s performances…” he laughs. But it is clear that while this project is inspired by love of the movie and the musical, this is also not a time for mere mimicry; all the cast wants to bring their own versions forward. 

 

It is time to practice for the finale, an emotional piece where all the characters come together to tell us about the lessons they learned, and—more importantly—the people they found while lost in the forest. I watch on as Jack, played by Ronav Jain, is heaved up in the air by the rest of the cast. 

 

If this production welcomes the audience into their vision of a found family as effectively as they welcomed me, Into the Woods should be a joy to watch at the Playhouse.∎

 

Words by Luisa Blacker. Image courtesy of Coco Cottam.