Theatre Review: Into The Woods

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Take a trip into the woods with State Opera South Australia with this creative and fresh look at a much loved piece of musical theatre

Presented by: State Opera South Australia
Reviewed: 22 August, 2026

In the year of their Golden Jubilee, State Opera South Australia is offering a brilliant lineup of productions created right here in South Australia. This August, running parallel, are Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel and the musical theatre masterpiece, Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods. It is a bold move tackling two huge works at the same time. 

In Into The Woods, Stephen Sondheim has taken the original darkness of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and combined the tales of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel, along with an original storyline featuring a baker and his wife who are on a quest to break a witch’s curse and start a family. It also poses the question: ‘What happens after “happily ever after”?’

First premiering in San Diego in 1986 before moving to Broadway in November of 1987 and the West End in 1990, Into The Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It is the second production that Sondheim and Lapine collaborated on after Sunday in the Park with George. It has won countless awards including three Tony Awards for Best Score, Best book and Best Actress in a Musical. It has also been adapted by Disney into a film in 2014, which received three nominations at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. 

Director Constantine Costi and Associate Director Shannon Burns have worked closely with the cast and found every ounce of humour within this show. The underlying humour in the libretto, often causing the whole audience to burst out laughing, is creatively used to soften some of the show’s darker moments. There is some excellent character work; however, the inconsistencies in accents seem to have been overlooked. Ranging from Aussie to English and even a few American twangs appearing, a more unified approach across the cast is needed.

Our beloved Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Anthony Hunt, is sublime. They tackle Sondheim’s score with ease, producing an exquisite sound. It is always a treat to go to the theatre and hear a live orchestra playing a score the way the original composer intended it to be. We are very fortunate to have, in my humble opinion, one of the best symphony orchestras in the world right here in Adelaide. Hearing them play is worth the admission price alone. Sondheim’s complex score has never sounded better. 

It certainly makes you proud to be a South Australian watching Into The Woods. The entire cast has either been born here in Adelaide, lives here now or trained in Adelaide – an entirely South Australian cast. At the helm as The Baker, Hugh Sheridan gave a brilliant performance. I’ve seen Sheridan perform several times over the last several years, and this felt like one of his best and most focused performances. Vocally, Sheridan was magical. His warm, yet tender vocal quality gave a real believable edge to The Baker, and his emotional connection to the role was excellent. 

Johanna Allen as The Baker’s Wife was sensational. Her performance was a clear reminder to audiences why Allen is such an in-demand performer. Allen’s incredible connection to Sondheim’s lyric and melodic lines showed. Her grounded performance was deeply moving and Allen’s vocal performance was sublime. 

Catherine Campbell as Jack’s Mother was a real highlight. Every minute detail to Campbell’s character has been creatively and carefully thought through. From simple hand gestures and stance to the consistent character voice in dialogue and song, it was a real masterclass in character work. Campbell’s voice was a perfect match for this role. Vocally, Campbell was equally impressive, bringing a real motherly quality to this role. 

As Cinderella, soprano Jessica Dean gave a lovely, innocent performance. Her character development throughout was solid and her rich, soprano vocal tones added a real depth and understanding to Sondheim’s challenging score. Her scene work, especially against Sheridan in the later part of the show, was wonderful. 

Playing a villain is any performer’s dream, and you could see that the sensational Rosie Hosking was revelling in the opportunity to play The Witch. I went into this production with great anticipation to hear Hosking tackle Last Midnight and Children Will Listenand I was not disappointed. Hosking brought great menace to the role but also showed a tender, motherly side when needed.

Eliza Brill Reed brought the right level of brattiness needed for Little Red Riding Hood. Her effervescent character choices keep the role fresh and snappy, and she was vocally a treat to listen to. Her scene work with Joey Haenen as Jack was great. Haenen brought a good level of airheadedness to Jack and his song Giants In The Skywas excellent. 

As the pivotal role of the Narrator and Mysterious Man, Nicholas Lester delivered a solid performance. Tying the whole narrative together and switching between the need to break the fourth wall and then back to the cast is no easy feat, but Lester commanded your attention. His wonderful strong voice was a perfect match for this role.

Soprano Jessica Mills was perfectly cast as Rapunzel. Her soaring, bell-like voice was stunning and her vague manner in the early scenes was hilarious. However, as the show progressed Jessica showcased her great acting skills as her torment pulled at your heartstrings. Special mention must go to Mills’ costumes as Cinderella’s Mother and the harp.

As Cinderella’s family, you could not find a better quartet of performers to bring these wonderful characters to life. Cherie Boogaart as the Stepmother brought pure evil and malice to the role; Eleanor Brasted and Michaela Burger, as stepsisters Lucinda and Florinda, brought sass by the bucketloads and plenty of backhanded bitchiness; and Mark Oates found some wonderful dithery moments as Cinderella’s Father.

Nicholas Cannon and Andrew Crispe brought all the charm and charisma needed for the roles of Cinderella’s Prince and Rapunzel’s Prince. These two roles are at times used for comic relief and Cannon and Crispe found every comical moment. The song Agony is a personal favourite from Into The Woods and personally I feel they both could have taken the humour in the song even further. The reprise of the song in act two, however, was excellent. Cannon also played the Wolf and his smooth voice and suave, yet creepy, characterisation of the role was excellent.

Rod Schultz’s character choices for the Steward were excellent. Schultz has the ability to take on a role and make it his own. Bringing a wonderful amount of camp to the Steward, you couldn’t help but watch everything he did when he was on stage.

Millicent Brake and Gianna Guttilla made several cameo appearances throughout the production, in addition to playing Snow White and Sleeping Beauty in the final scene. The egg was a particular favourite (what swagger!) and their bird costumes certainly channeled The Flying Nun.

Into The Woods is a deceptively complex show and even for State Opera, there were moments that felt a giant step out of reach. On opening night there were several technical components that missed the mark. Late or missed revolve and lighting cues, late cast entrances, projection not working and inconsistency in the audio (mics late on or cutting out mid-sentence) did detract from the high quality one usually sees from a State Opera production.

Jonathon Oxlade’s costume design is brilliant. Each costume perfectly suits the character, with particular favourites being Hosking’s first witch outfit as well as ‘the egg’ (you need to see the production to get this!). Oxlade’s set design is mostly effective; however, those of us who have seen Hansel & Gretelcan tell the set was mostly designed for that production and Into The Woods has been shoe-horned into the same design, resulting in some scenes not quite working. Bernie Tan-Hayes’ lighting design was mostly executed well; however, at times the lighting focus did leave some cast members in shadow rather than light.

Bravo to State Opera for bringing back to Adelaide stages this much-loved piece of musical theatre. It is pleasing to see the company continuing to make theatre accessible to all and bringing fresh, new approaches to adored productions. After a sold-out opening night and tickets for the remaining three shows disappearing, don’t miss this stunning production. Take a trip with State Opera South Australia into the woods…and happily ever after.

Reviewed by Ben Stefanoff

Photo credit: Andrew Beveridge for State Opera South Australia