Into the Woods reviews: critics agree the West End transfer keeps its magic

"A production that has lost none of its magic."

"This shift in venue feels distinctly plush, immediate, and intimate as it retreads the familiar path of a variety of fairy tales, each given a twist as they diverge wildly from the recognised telling."

"Designer Tom Scutt does not skimp on the greenery: giant trunks and tangled foliage once more spill across the stage, creating an almost impenetrable, overwhelming forest."

"Fein acutely understands the narrative’s psychological curve."

"Relies heavily on the ensemble, and returning cast members from the 2025 Bridge run deliver performances that have only heightened. Gracie McGonigal’s Little Red Riding Hood remains magnetically fun, but now carries noticeably deeper emotional resonance."

"She is matched by fresh additions who fit seamlessly into the staging. John Dagleish and Laura Pitt-Pulford make for a mightily fun double act as the Baker and his Wife, running literal and figurative laps across the stage during the frantic first act. Alongside them, Simbi Akande’s note-perfect Cinderella and Keith Ramsay’s quirky, oddball Jack establish an engaging, motley crew at the heart of the journey."

"The centerpiece performance, however, comes once again from Kate Fleetwood’s Witch. Fleetwood appears more nimble, more playful, and ultimately more truthful than in her Bridge iteration."

"The heightened intimacy of the West End auditorium allows fine details in Scutt’s design to shine through, such as the way Cinderella’s gowns subtly “grow” and expand with each successive midnight as her wish snowballs."

"This visual detailedness is matched by technical design work from lighting designer Aideen Malone, sound designer Adam Fisher, and video designer Roland Horvath. Fisher’s sound design makes full use of the new space, pushing a subwoofer vibration through the stalls that goes well beyond what was achievable at the Bridge."

"Jordan Fein’s award-winning revival of Sondheim’s cautionary modern musical fairytale transfers to the West End with even greater wit, poignancy and magic."

"Picking up some new cast members along the way, Jordan Fein’s magical production of Sondheim and James Lapine’s fairytale meta-mash-up is even better than ever."

"The joy of the show’s book and the lyrics is how skilfully they weave staples [...] into a shared universe, in which the titular woods are both the literal destination for the converging quests and storylines of these characters, and a moving metaphor for adulthood and parenthood."

"Fein steers into the humour while capturing the picture-book wonder of the show’s world. The way in which the back of the stage opens from a black, blank slate into designer Tom Scutt’s gorgeously ethereal woodland setting, picked out by Aideen Malone’s dreamy lighting, is a wonderful reveal. It feels almost primally familiar."

"Kate Fleetwood remains a scene-stealing presence as the Witch, mixing a deliciously Maggie Smith-inflected drollness with flashes of wild, despairing anger at the world."

"Gracie McGonigal’s reprise of her formidable take on Little Red Ridinghood is similarly welcome, as she strides determinedly through the forest’s dangers."

"The addition of John Dagleish and Laura Pitt-Pulford as the hapless Baker and his Wife is a huge bonus. They play up the comedy while never neglecting the tragedy, sketching their characters clearly and vividly so that they don’t get lost among the show’s magical archetypes."

"Fein segues effortlessly between grief and loss, and winking wit. The production is never lazily glib."

"Adam Fisher’s exceptional surround sound design evokes the scale not just of the giant, but of the task ahead for these characters."

"The show’s fantasy trappings are, ultimately, elementally about the stories we tell to shape our lives and those of other people."

"American director Jordan Fein, who imaginatively revamped Fiddler on the Roof, takes us into another ingenious world where the woods become an extra character in the show."

"Tom Scutt's remarkable set design is embellished by Aideen Malone's evocative lighting (hands down the best lighting design I've ever seen) offering us smoky beams and dappled rays to evoke a mysterious unearthly place."

"Scutt not only excels with his wondrous woodland. He's also designed the costumes, with a varied array from rustic earthy garb for the baker and his wife contrasting with elaborate dresses for wicked step-sisters Florinda and Lucinda, to Cinderella's feathery Met Ball-esque gown, and ludicrous Andre Agassi-like tennis kit accessorised with jumbo-sized codpieces for the camp scene-stealing princes "

"Scutt's glorious, wooded set on a traditional proscenium-arched stage resembles a child's innocent toy theatre. As well as being thrilling, it also reminds us we will leave the theatre after the show and return to the real world."

"Along with the awe of this stunning revival, we'll also take with us Sondheim's thoughtful existential themes of loss, grief, the strength of storytelling and the importance of passing the right values onto our children."

"This production does Sondheim's magical musical justice."

"The set design was utterly captivating and at times felt like it's own character, which is exactly what you want. It's intimate and in your face, allowing the fairytales to feel that much closer to reality."

"My only criticism is that it did, at times, feel a bit cramped. Despite never seeing this production at the Bridge, I'm familiar with the size and could clearly see that the flexibility of that stage offered much more space for the transitions to blend into one another and for the woods to come alive more, where the Noel Coward was a touch too small with its traditional proscenium."

"The costumes defy expectation, blending fashion from different decades with a whimsical flair that inevitably makes it feel timeless. I particularly enjoyed how Cinderella’s dress seemed to get bigger every time she appeared onstage as if her wish was about to swallow her whole."

"The script felt more modern than I recalled (as someone who grew up listening to the Original Broadway Cast recording but it certainly sparkled and found plenty of the humour in the darkness."

"Gracie McGonigal's Little Red is hilariously a girl on the edge of womanhood, and she plays both the innocence and the darker edginess with panache."

"The ensemble cast goes from strength to strength, from Kate Fleetwood's flawless performance as The Witch, to the princes' particular brand of 80s-coiffed comedic timing."

"Gracie McGonigal's Little Red is hilariously a girl on the edge of womanhood, and she plays both the innocence and the edginess with panache."

"John Dagleish’s Baker was also a standout, with his comedic chops fully on display just as much as his more emotional tug-at-the-heartstrings moments. It's a nice pairing with Laura Pitt-Pulford, who plays the nuances of the Baker's Wife to perfection."

"It's a delightful adventure from start to finish, with all the magic you could wish."

"It’s spellbinding"

"In Jordan Fein’s utterly bewitching revival of Into the Woods, the Stephen Sondheim fairytale musical getting a West End encore after its success at the Bridge Theatre, it’s the woods themselves that wow you. From a stark opening on a near-bare black set, suddenly the backdrop opens up to foliage galore."

"The set is so shrouded in spotlights and smoke that there’s something mystical as well as natural about these trees."

"As deeply fanciful as this all is, every moment oozes conviction."

" Sondheim’s songs can be achingly seductive, but also pizzicato and packed with patter."

"Sondheim (songs) and James Lapine (script) never entirely let go of the jokes, however grim (or Brothers Grimm) it gets."

"John Dagleish as the blokey baker and Laura Pitt-Pulford as his savvier wife are lovely with flecks of ruthlessness as they try to complete a tough set of tasks for them in the woods set by their neighbour the Witch. Matthew Seadon-Young and Lucas Koch as the two princes excel at the duet Agony, a love duet both sincere and satirical."

"Everyone impresses, but Kate Fleetwood — returning, like McGonigal, from the Bridge cast — is stunningly good as the Witch. Grotesque but sardonic, she becomes ever more human as the night goes on."

"Yep, it’s a long evening (160min) and not every song can be a stunner like Children Will Listen or It Takes Two or Last Midnight. Yet Fein and Scutt’s supernaturally good mix of the dark and the light ensures its spell never breaks."

"Jordan Fein’s lavish revival of Sondheim’s subversive fairytale musical Into the Woods spent last year packing out the Bridge and hoovering up Oliviers. Now it’s crossed the river to the Noël Coward with a mostly new cast, and it’s every bit as good."

"Kate Fleetwood is back as the Witch and she owns every inch of stage."

"John Dagleish and Laura Pitt-Pulford are new as the Baker and his Wife, and they’re a lovely match. Their voices are beautiful together, which is never a given with a stage couple, and their duet ‘It Takes Two’ is a real high point of the show."

"Even when Sondheim has everyone singing over the top of each other in rounds, you can still make out every word."

"Gracie McGonigal returns as Little Red Riding Hood and is still a joy, full of youthful cockiness, the kind of girl who’d square up to a wolf and fancy her chances."

"Agony’ becomes a full-blown chad-off, two royals out-preening each other over the women they're supposedly pining for while running into each other’s arms and gazing longingly into each other’s eyes. It has the blokey bromance energy of two rugby lads who adore each other but would swear blind there’s nothing in it."