Fairy tales from the dark side
‘‘Into the Woods’’
The F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company
Regent Theatre
7 Medford St., Arlington
Tonight, tomorrow, and Saturday at 8 p.m.
$15, $12, and $10
fudgetheatre.com, 781-646-4849
It begins like any fairy tale. "Once upon a time" declares the narrator in his prologue, "in a far-off kingdom lived a fair maiden, a sad young lad, and a childless baker with his wife."
It's only a matter of time before Prince Charming comes knocking on the front door. And for the finishing touch, a sharp injection of "Happily Ever After," a heavy tranquilizer that induces temporary amnesia.
But "Into the Woods," a classic Stephen Sondheim musical, offers an entirely different ever after. The play's tagline, "Everything isn't so happy after happily ever after . . . " is right on point; some of the characters don't even make it out alive.
"Into the Woods" takes classic tales everyone knows and digs deep into the psychology of characters. "These are not stock-type characters. They are complex, and people will really identify with them," said Shannon Rosa, director of communications for the Reading-based F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company.
F.U.D.G.E., which stands for Friends United Developing Genuine Entertainment, produced this production with the Regent Theatre, where the play opens tonight.
The plot involves a baker and his wife who are unable to have a child because of a wicked witch's curse. The only way to reverse the spell is to find a cow as white as snow, a cape as red as blood, hair as yellow as corn, and a slipper as pure as gold. The temptation to go into the dark woods is there, and the couple embark on a magical journey.
"We really wanted to focus on the darker elements of these fairy tales," said Joe DeMita, the director and F.U.D.G.E.'s president and cofounder. "It's set in a spooky world where anything can happen. There's a sense of uncertainty and not knowing what will happen next."
During their travels, characters from Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Rapunzel are woven into the plot, unleashing familiar Brothers Grimm faces in a grim but thought-provoking context.
"We tried to gear away from any comedy and really focus on their experience of going into the woods, getting lost in the woods, and not knowing where to go. What they encounter, good and bad, is what ultimately makes them grow and change," said DeMita, who lives in Reading.
For example, Rapunzel stands up to her controlling mother, while Little Riding Hood comes of age after realizing she is both afraid of and strangely attracted to the menacing wolf.
"They have experiences we all have," said Rosa, who will play Cinderella's mother, Jack and the Beanstalk's Giantress, and Granny from Little Red Riding Hood.
Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Not Granny.
"In the original story, she is swallowed up by the wolf and never seen again," said Rosa. "In this modernized production, we wanted Granny to be a survivor, take action, and take revenge. She teaches Little Red Riding Hood not to let it happen again. She takes back the power, which is something people will grab onto."
With more than 300 costumes designed and constructed by DeMita and a cast of 17 actors, "Into the Woods" is "our most massive undertaking yet and we did it with no budget," said Rosa.
With 500 seats, the Regent Theatre is the biggest house the company has used since their inception in 2002. As a result, scenic designer and F.U.D.G.E. board member Jim Petty aimed for an epic feel for the set.
"The most important part was incorporating the fairy tale element. The set has a woodsy, organic feel. It's a deep, mysterious place that captures some of the themes in the show and the unknown dangers that come with that. We used different levels to throw the audience off balance," said Petty, who lives in Haverhill.
"This is a chance to be immersed in a world you wouldn't get to be in every day. Lots of sets are in an apartment building and based on reality. This is an escape of an escape. This is fantasy theater," Petty said.
And the F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company knows something about "once upon a time . . ." because once upon a time they were just a group of young college students in a college far, far, away -- well, Stonehill College in Easton. Five years later, the group of twentysomethings is a professional organization with an executive board and has put on more than a dozen productions.
DeMita, who helped name the company after a fresh batch of fudge, believes this show represents the start of F.U.D.G.E.'s "happily ever after."
"This is the most rewarding thing of my life," DeMita said. "This show has been a huge challenge, but I think we're doing what we set out to do, which is provide quality theater for affordable prices."
