While spending this evening at the SCERA’s indoor theater in Orem, watching “Into the Woods,” was not our prescribed destination for celebrating our six year anniversary, we enjoyed watching how this more realistic fairy tale experience paralleled our own lives.
It seemed that the discord we were experiencing with our plans tonight carried over into this show. This was opening night, so there were many elements out of sync: nerves, pitchiness, blocking and sound problems, even lighting mishaps. However we stood to honor the cast in the end for giving a fresh and powerful performance. The characters seemed to develop before our eyes. We sympathized with them as they reacted honestly to the realism of the mishaps on stage, and connected with them as their story became ours.
It was interesting to us, that the writing of this show interwove the stories of many well-known fairy-tales into an all encompassing story. Being familiar to these childhood stories made us comfortable in the world of the story. Hearing them told in sync with this larger more unified account made the experience fresh and interesting. As this was a musical, the songs drove the stories forward, while the dialogue gave exposition, depth, and support for the characters in their realms.
These weren’t however the innocent tales we tell our little children. These were the real stories, from literary works, we’d read later on in our lives, the more adult versions. In fact, the more traditional “Disney-like” adaptations ended at intermission. The second act continued into the idea of what really happened in place of the “and they lived happily ever after,” of those versions.
People refused help, sought for revenge, and were murdered. Others went looking for more, cheated, and were punished. Similar to real life, characters were ripped tragically from one another’s lives in some way then forced to adapt to their new circumstances and pull together to make it through. It wasn’t safe or magical anymore, but chaotic and authentic.
The story played upon both our need to dream and our humanistic desire to make the most out of what we’re dealt. It was clever and poignant. I almost let my guard down enough to let my emotions come out. We were willingly immersed in the world of the story presented and learned something about ourselves through the struggles of those before us.
I recommend this play presented by the SCERA and give my continued regard for this cast and the fine job they gave tonight. I have even decided to log this experience onto my imaginary shelf of things to come back to when I finish my education and run a program of my own. I already have connected with this legend and have some idea of how to carry it out under different circumstances such as a high school setting. Kudos!