In Stephen Sondheim's own words, art is meant to make things surprising but inevitable.
That is the point of it.
On so many levels this is true of
this production. It is surprisingly engaging for such a complicated and difficult musical score but that is inevitable when such an intellect has written it and such a clever and committed cast of actors and singers are performing it.
It is also surprisingly believable despite its irreverent twists on the traditional, but that also is inevitable when such an extraordinarily creative design team has conspired to plant a woodland in this space and light it so well that it goes on forever and grows moss and hides houses and enables scene changes to be utterly fluid and entrances and exits to be seamless.
Hats off to Wendy Revell for inspiring this whole team, production, creative and cast.
Recognising Sondheim's "surprising" treatment of some of Brothers Grimm's fairytales, the subtextual nuances of his dialogue, the humour and the questioning of the status quo, which all make for a meaningful theatrical encounter, she has ignited energy and integrity to burn, from the special effects to the characterisation, and from the visual realism to the musicality. All highly impressive.
To some extent, the star of the show is the Wood, and so it should be.
A moment in the Woods, magic in the Woods, living in the Woods, lost in the Woods, killed in the Woods - the all-embracing character of the Woods allows for the twists and mutations of Sondheim's plot to grow and develop within, towards a surprising finale.
The physical, musical, technological and interpretational demands are so well met by every member of the team, on stage and backstage, that the time flew by, and suddenly, in a genius finale, Cinderella shines again, briefly, and it's all over.
What a show! Not to be missed.
This is not the ordinary but it has everything we want, plus the surprises.
It looks amazing, sounds wonderful and feels as though something quite extraordinary has just been plated up, not only because Sondheim was a genius, but because we are witnessing total commitment to that genius.
