Into the Wood Critique

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Critique of the Play “Into the Woods”
Introduction
The Brothers Grimm wrote fairy tales which gained popularity for many years. Children and adults alike held the fairy tales close to their hearts, because of the life’s teachings they exhibited and the entertainment they gave. Fast forward into the years, and the play, “Into the Woods”, directed by James Lapine and written by Stephen came into the picture as a modern version of the fairy tales that already existed. The play gives a modern twist on the tales that give the original characters an opportunity to come together and form one story. The common names of Rapunzel, Cinderella, Jack, and the Beanstalk are put together to form the play “Into the Woods”, where the old plots are twisted to create a modernized one, complete with a moral story attached to it. This paper will provide a critical analysis of the play, give the intention of both authors and eventually provide a personal opinion of the text.
The story, similar to the original versions is about a family that wishes for things they cannot have, and work towards acquiring them when they realize that the witch has cursed them. The Baker and his wife would like a child, but the curse is the stumbling block. However, the witch is willing to lift the curse if they bring multiple things for her. The authors create a visual adventure that is both enticing and sad, right from the twists in the woods in search of the items found only there, (Yorke 56) the successful reversal of the curse and the joy attached to it and thee sadness in the death of characters.

The intention of Stephen is moral oriented and leans more on the behavior of children, their level of obedience and the acknowledgment that they follow the example of adults. He says, ‘Children may fail to obey, but they will listen, and depend on you for the direction to turn and learn what to be.” He succeeded in his intention of teaching children about the value of family and the need to respect parents even when they do things that are not agreeable. In the play, both authors depict the conflict present in families, for example, sisters hating on each other, couples that disagree and overly protective mothers. At the end of the play, we see the loss of lives, which causes pain in the families, and those that survive appreciate the need to hold on to the remaining family and loved ones.
The intention of the director and author who is James leans more on the acknowledgment of mistakes one commits, and the understanding that nobody is perfect. He says, “People commit mistakes, and keep to themselves, (Lapine et al. 35) because they think that they are alone.” He goes further to say that “I am only human, and not perfect.” Through the play, he successfully shows that by the virtue of being a king, one cannot be flawless, because kings are humans too, and are bound to make mistakes.
Stephen and James killed characters that they were not supposed to, given the struggles some of the characters went through to get themselves comfortable, yet in the end, they fail to enjoy what they worked hard for and end up dead. Their plot of the story depicts inconsistencies that they needed to address, because in fairy tales, the good stay alive, while the evil die.
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Works cited
Lapine, James et al. Into The Woods, 2003.
Yorke, John. Into The Woods. Penguin Books, 2014.