With preparations well underway for the award winning musical Into the Woods at Manoel Theatre, Times2 caught up with Artistic Director, Lucienne Camilleri, to find out more.
“To go into the woods is a metaphor for a dangerous and challenging quest where one has no idea of the outcome – or if you survive the journey,” begins Lucienne. “This complex musical by Stephen Sondheim explores just that.”
Into The Woods is about a childless baker and his wife who wish for a child, and their interactions with a witch who has placed a curse on them, and other storybook characters along the way. The main characters are taken from the well-known stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and other popular tales. It promises an adventure in which the characters act and make choices which may come with severe consequences and impact the people around them, Lucienne continues.
“During this journey we encounter various underlying psychological themes: parent-child relationships, infidelity and resilience. These very human traits are projected via characters taken from the Grimm fairytales. I believe Sondheim and Lapine (the author of the book on which the musical was based) decided on using fairytale characters in order to deconstruct traditional fairytale structures and challenge conventional ideas of good and evil, showcasing how even seemingly ‘good’ characters can have flawed motives and actions.”
And what drew Lucienne to this particular musical?
“Every musical theatre aficionado simply cannot get away from Sondheim. He’s clever, witty, sharp and a genius in the way he manoeuvres notes and lyrics to create a fascinating discovery of storytelling in a completely different format. My inital directorial encounter with Sondheim was Sweeney Todd which proved to be challenging, as expected but so very satisfying once we delivered it on stage. Into the Woods promised to be even more challenging and, I hope, even more fulfilling. It delves deeply into our inner human psyche and encourages us to take a deeper look at what we truly desire and what will really make us content. It is not merely a telling of a story but a deep analysis of our very human traits and the way we deal with them and the consequences they bring forward. And it’s done in a most entertaining fashion.”
Lucienne has brought together a diverse cast of seasoned actors and singers and also included a talented Maltese/Australian newcomer who has travelled to join the rest of the team. “He has fitted in marvellously,” says Lucienne. “This show is also about chemistry between the characters and whereas this could have been a hard hurdle, it has been smooth because all the cast members have shown a generosity of spirit and a great respect towards each other.”
“They have each brought their individuality to their characters making the performance all the more real, because this is not a fairytale in the expected sense of the word. It is reality – harsh and poignant. It has been a joy to see how well they have all developed the characters and added mannerisms that sit well with the roles they are playing. There have been challenging moments, adding movement to some very complex vocals, for example, but they have been resilient, and committed to perfecting this!”
“We also brought Matthew Cassar, a young talented Maltese set and costume designer on board and opted for a dark sinister look that reflects the woods theme, textured with wild, vivid colours for costumes,” says Lucienne, explaining that as the director she has stayed as true as possible to Sondheim’s storytelling with the staging and characterisations. “In addition, the show comes with exquisite puppetry created by Liliana Portelli and her team, a plethora of sound cues and some very special lighting moments which I can’t divulge further,” she smiles. #nospoilers!
Lucienne hopes that the performance will elicit feelings both of surprise and awe in the audience, “two sentiments that I experienced on first reading the script”, she adds. “This journey will take them through so many emotions not only because of the glorious combination of voices from some of the best artists on the island but because of their own personal relationship with the characters they will encounter in this amazing musical work.”
An audience, she continues, should feel part of the story unfolding before their eyes. Most of the time we go to the theatre to be entertained or to come out reflecting deeply on what has been delivered. “This musical delivers both, she smiles, “and I am convinced that the audience is not prepared for this! They willbe overwhelmed. Or so I hope!”
Into the Woods debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986 and premiered on Broadway in 1987, where it won three major Tony Awards (Best Score, Best Book, and Best Actress, in a year dominated by The Phantom of the Opera.
This production boasts a formidable cast, with Joel Parnis as the baker, Rachel Fabri as the baker’s wife, Thomas Camilleri and Ryan Grech as the Princes, Gianluca Cilia as Jack, Nadia Vella as Cinderella, Dorothy Bezzina as the witch, and Stephen Oliver as the narrator, amongst others. Direction is in the hands of Lucienne Camilleri and Ryal Paul Abela is Musical Director. The production is designed by Matthew Cassar.
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