“Into the Woods,” was performed at North Central College’s (NCC) Pfeifer Hall on Nov. 8-10. This remarkable theatre production had a great story line with a talented cast.
The production was based off of different fairy tales such as Jack and the Bean Stock, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. It was interesting to see all of these fairy tales combined into one premise.
The foundation of “Into the Woods” was a married couple of bakers who could not bare children because of a curse that had been placed upon the husbands’ house by an evil witch. The witch, NCC junior Tina Naponelli, wore a costume was unbelievably deceiving to the audience, as they would later discover the unexpected beauty hidden underneath. The witch demanded that the couple venture into the woods and find certain objects in order to make a potion to restore her youth and beauty.
As the main plot progressed, there were other stories on stage simultaneously. The lights would turn off as the characters from one tale would freeze, while another would be lit and begin to act. Through each individual story, the audience was able to get to know the different characters’ traits.
Even though the characters were of different ages in the tales, each role was equally believable when played by a college student. Little red riding hood, ironically played by senior Bethany Schick, was especially plausible with her short brown hair, high-pitched voice and childish actions.
Often adding songs in place of recited lines kept the production interesting and showed off the talent of many cast members. Although each cast member was extremely gifted, Cinderella, senior Savanna Rae, had a voice that belongs on Broadway. Her expressive performance and extraordinary voice gave her character a history that no other character had attained.
The first act ended with the well-known endings of each fairy tale, and the second act came with a new conflict that merged each tale together. A lot of humor took place while trying to resolve this new encounter, but it also integrated periodic moments of frustration and sadness.
As the audience laughed and cried, it was obvious that the emotional second act had done a brilliant job of wrapping up “Into the Woods.”
