Into The Woods, based on James Lapine’s book, is Stephen Sondheim's retelling of some of our favourite Grimms’ fairy tales. In October 2025, This is Haslemere had the great pleasure of attending the dress rehearsal for The Haslemere Players' new production of this musical. Six performances will run from 28th October until 1st November at Haslemere Hall. 

When the curtains open, we are drawn into a deep, dark and mysterious wood with the giant, cartoonish and glittery words ONCE UPON A TIME stretched across the width of the stage. The first sounds are bird song soothingly piped across the audience….

We are introduced to Cinderella (Alexandra Boughton), Jack (Alfie Barton) and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel (Christina Howell) and Little Red Riding Hood (Amelie Baseley), all familiar from the classic fairy tales. Added into the cast are The Baker (Ricky Dyer) and his wife (Chloe Johnson-Jones) who long for a child. The seemingly interfering Narrator (Adrian Stent) threads through the musical.

The Witch (Dawn Stephens) emerges dramatically from a rotten old big stump of a tree. No joking, if we bumped into her on Blackdown, we’d be absolutely terrified! The Witch places a curse on The Baker and his wife which she will only remove if the couple can source four items - a milky white cow, a cloak as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn and a golden slipper. Then she will be released from her own curse and, in turn, grant the couple what they wish, a child.

The relationship between children, parents and other family members is at the heart of this musical. Every wish of the main protagonists is borne out of abandonment, hardship or heartbreak. As Act One draws to a close, it feels like the characters all have their happy-ever-afters and indeed, you are left wondering if the musical, where fairy tale meets panto meets slapstick, might end there....

But NO, as sometimes happens in real life, these characters can’t find happiness. Act Two opens with those lovely bold, glittery ONCE UPON A TIME letters shattered and sprawled across the stage as metaphorical props for The Giant destroying The Baker’s house, Little Red Riding’s Grandma's house, the castle and more….The tone has shifted and the protagonists are all mixed up in each other’s stories. There are deaths, dramatic music but, thankfully, lessons are eventually learned….

The whole cast is wonderful. This is a complex and challenging score but, apart from one or two hiccups, the singing, choreography and acting were great. There were some very funny one liners delivered really well. This is a cast of 20 and very much a team show. And, it’s definitely worth mentioning Red Riding Hood (Amelie Baseley) with her stand out singing and acting.

There was a talented eight-piece live music ensemble led by Lizzie Hales. They provided brilliant dramatic or mournful soundtracks. Key moments were marked perfectly by this ensemble, especially when (spoiler) Milky White dies.

The musical is wonderfully co-directed by professional acting couple Hughie and Jessi O’Donnell. This pair know this musical inside out. Hughie will actually be The Steward (and The Baker understudy) in The Bridge Theatre’s production in London later this year. Jessi was talent spotted at a Haslemere Players production at Haslemere Hall! In their own happy-ever-after, Jess shared, "we never would have met had it not been for our association with Haslemere Players." Directing this production felt like a gorgeous and grounded giving back to Haslemere for the couple. When asked to describe the work in a single word, they said “uplifting”. 

Hughie and Jessi use some clever props, for example, lurid green umbrellas to form the beanstalk, a cottage bedroom scene where a patchwork quilt hangs facing the audience to represent Grandma’s bed and is slashed right down the middle to rescue Red Riding Hood and Grandma from the Big Bad Wolf’s stomach. Antony Mee’s Milky White puppetry is wonderful and we loved the pink marigold glove udders. The Monty Python coconut shells for the horse’s hooves for Cinderella’s Prince’s (Nathan Baseley) entry were very funny accompanied by his hilarious desire to “catch my own damsel thank you very much”. The giantess voiced by ITV quizzer Anne Hegerty was a clever addition and so funny. Frosty Knickers is not normally the one asking questions. Adrian Stent’s set with its woods, scaffolding, walkways and a dangerously high Rapunzel tower is magnificent. The brilliant costumes were sourced from the Haslemere Players’ collection but many were made from scratch by seriously talented volunteers. We loved the big bad wolf’s golden bling and the fanned-out twigs dripping with red fabric tears to portray Rapunzel’s Prince’s (Thomas Edser) blindness. The Witch’s outfit was brilliant and she may even have had some of Blackdown’s abundant toadstools stitched into her raggedy robes. And the lighting throughout the musical was at times sensitive, dramatic and frightening to effectively create settings and key moments really well.

This is both an excellent, magical, dark and funny production by the hard working and dedicated Haslemere Players. Tickets are available from Haslemere Hall. Do not miss out on their production of Into The Woods.

Photo credit: Front Row Photography