London's Bridge Theatre opened its doors this week to the first new production of Into the Woods in nearly a decade, directed by Jordan Fein following his Olivier Award-winning productions of Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma!, and boasting set and costume design by Tom Scutt.

Billed as a musical that weaves together fairy-tale characters such as Cinderella, Jack, and Little Red Riding Hood as they navigate the consequences of their deepest wishes, critics have praised the new opening. Take a read below to see what the critics thought!

The Reviews

TimeOut

"This is the first actual proper major Sondheim revival to be staged in this country since the great man's passing. And the main thing worth saying about 1986's Into the Woods is that it's the work of a genius at the peak of his powers."

"It's both playful and profound, mischievous and sincere, cleverly meta but also a ripping yarn."

"Every second is filled with Sondheim's presence: his lush, motif-saturated score of baroque nursery rhymes feels as vividly alive as the forest itself."

"Into the Woods is a sublime but fiddly musical with a lot of moving parts. You need to get it right, and Fein smashes it, largely thanks to exceptional casting."

The Times

"Jordan Fein strikes again. A year after the director gave us a glorious revival of Fiddler on the Roof at Regent's Park... he now works wonders with a Stephen Sondheim show which has, in the past, risked sinking under the weight of its outsized ambitions."

"Fein's captivating version at the Bridge, endowed with stunning set and costume designs by Tom Scutt and extraordinarily atmospheric lighting by Aideen Malone, is sharp, propulsive and often very funny."

The Financial Times

"An immaculate cast carries the composer's fiendish score with panache in this first London production for almost a decade"

"It needs a huge, and hugely capable, cast to sing the fiendish staccato score, as well as trees, cows, giants, witches, magic, humour, horror and heart. This production is done well, and it has all of those."

"It's no radical reinvention from director Jordan Fein but like his Fiddler on the Roof from last year, this is a very finely wrought piece of theatre that looks extraordinary, boasts a tremendous cast and uses their precise performances to let the score speak for itself."

Whats On Stage

"Fein and Scutt collaborated last year on a radical and revelatory Fiddler on the Roof, and here they once again work with the musical supervisor Mark Aspinall to make Sondheim not only look but sound fresh, with Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations dialling up the darkness inside the lyrical score. Adam Fisher provides a terrifyingly good sound design"

"Within this perfect frame, the cast shape their stories. There isn't a weak link among them as strong-voiced and subtle they bring fictive characters to grounded life."

The Guardian

"The actors are on blazing musical form too, hitting every difficult or dissonant note, and each performer finds a moment to excel."

"The alluring darkness to this dysfunctional family drama (with fairytale bells on) is literal in the exquisitely conceived set design by Tom Scutt."

"This production has none of the broadness or festive spirit of a Christmas show or panto, but the wonder and magic of both."

The Independent

"The towering 1986 classic by musical theatre's late genius Stephen Sondheim feels here almost bewilderingly small. And then, the backdrop lifts, and the stage expands. And keeps expanding. It's a breathtaking Dorothy-in-technicolour sort of flourish: by the time we get a full view of the lavish woodland set, it's clear that spectacle was never going to be an issue."

"It's no bad thing that director Jordan Fein has opted for a fairly down-the-line approach. There are no real surprises here, no radical reinvention in characterisation or staging. But it's a production that really plays to the musical's strengths: the big moments feel enormous."