AMATEUR THEATRE REVIEW: Into The Woods - Pyramid Theatre, Union Building, The University, Leeds.

This was my first visit to Leeds University, and - apart from parking the car being something of a nightmare due to parking restrictions etc - I found everyone at the university most helpful and friendly. The Pyramid Theatre is an intimate studio space, which although designed to be "in the round" was presented this evening with audience on three sides of the rectangular performing space, whilst the larger-than-expected live band had positioned themselves along majority of the fourth row, leaving a section of that row to be used as the only set used for the society's show... namely a large tree trunk (with a peep-hole), and a couple of stumps used as seats. The only other set this evening was a green net across the ceiling adorned with leaves and this idea being continued around parts of the auditorium seating. 

The society in question this evening - as I have been reliably informed that Leeds University is blessed with two Musical Theatre performing groups - was LUUMTS. And despite the minimalism in the set design, there was nothing at all minimal in the performances this evening. Being a university society, the membership of the society is restricted to current students and as such the cast are all young, energetic, and bring vitality and freshness to their roles, with big characterisations. Their commitment to, and obvious enjoyment of, their roles and the show in general was inspiring. 

Sondheim is never easy, and getting it "just right" is an act that few professionals are able to follow with success, and so every time an amateur or student company decide to tackle one, especially one as well known as this, I can only admire their perspicacity and determination. This society tried hard, and the cast brought much to the table in order to make the show work. However, the directing and use of (even choice of) space worked against them on this occasion, as well as a lack of focus. Sadly the director still placed far too much emphasis on performing towards the central row of seating, and there were many moments when some of the smaller vignettes were not visible at all to the majority of the audience.

I have seen a few productions of 'Into The Woods' recently which have gone against the convention, and as such have weakened the storyline, making something of a nonsense of the roles of the Mysterious Man and Narrator by not making them the same actor. This society also chose not to understand that in order for the story to "work" the two characters are the same person. That was a shame. One other thing I failed to understand this evening was the different accents used throughout. A few of the cast chose to speak in either genuine or quasi-American accents, whilst a couple of the characters playing "peasants" quite rightly chose local dialect (not London as one cast member had), whilst royalty chose again quite rightly, mostly, RP. 

Despite my above comments I enjoyed the show muchly. All the cast were well chosen, and all gave much to the show, however I do feel that in general, the females were stronger this evening than the males. Sadly the Witch was not made to look anywhere near ugly (or old) enough at the start, but her act 2 solo was delivered with a passion and power that I haven't seen since Bernadette Peters! Both The Baker's Wife and Little Red Riding Hood impressed me this evening over and above, but in this reviewer's most subjective opinion, the actress who played Cinderella was the "star" of the show this evening, delivering a performance that would not be out of place on the West End stage. 

Credit too to the young lady being the puppeteer for the cow; a much overlooked role when using such a cow, and she managed to convey emotion on the cow's face with seeming ease.

Overall, a very Curate's Egg production - good in parts - and some parts were very good indeed; performed by a truly energetic, enthusiastic, and talented group who, for this show at least, would have benefitted from a different performance space and / or more focused and tighter direction. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 18.5.23