Into the Woods
★★★★☆ Melodic
Church Hill Theatre: Tue 20 – Sat 24 Jan 2026
Review by Hugh Simpson
Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group’s production of Into the Woods, at the Church Hill until Saturday, is musically strong enough to overcome any issues in staging.
Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 1986 musical combines the plots of several Grimm Brothers fairy tales before showing what happens to characters after the happy ending. It’s a compelling work, if overlong (and perhaps not as clever as it thinks it is).
It’s also always going to be somewhat divisive to a general audience – people who love musicals tend to rave about it, while those who don’t get the genre often find that it crystallises all of the things they don’t like.
Rosie Wilkinson, Shaun Hamilton and Lauren Green. Pic Andrew Morris.
One of the most important things that a production has to get right is Sondheim’s often tricky music, and it is here that this production really scores. It is notably well sung throughout, while the large orchestra consistently shines under the baton of Abby Bailey (co-musical director with Nonny Jones).
There are praiseworthy performances throughout the show, with the central couple, the Baker and his wife, played with emotion and realism by Shaun Hamilton and Rosie Wilkinson. Hamilton is touching and believable. Wilkinson’s performance is very accomplished in every aspect, with particularly good comic timing (an element that is not always as strong elsewhere).
exceptionally strong vocally
Lauren Green’s Witch and Maia Jones’s Cinderella are both exceptionally strong vocally. Richeldis Bresnan (Little Red), Reuben Reilly (Jack), Chloe Brandwin (Jack’s mother) and Aarya Gambhir (Rapunzel) also impress.
Cameron Marie Herring, Keiko Tani and Eedie Baker-Thompson give considerable life to Cinderella’s stepmother and sisters. Naomi Jessiman, Marcus Webb and Hannah-Rose Laverick discharge their various roles with skill.
A scene from Eusog’s Into the Woods. Pic Andrew Morris.
The singing is so formidable that it is unsurprising that the acting does not always quite live up to it. As previously mentioned, not all of the intended comic moments quite come off. However, Max Middleton and Aisling Ní Dhochartaigh are funny as the two princes, while Andrew More’s narrator has genuine charm. Aoife Hallett, meanwhile, is very well integrated into the production as Jack’s ‘milky white cow’.
Co-directors Tai Remus Elliot and Hunter King, together with choreographer Morgan Hazelip, deserve praise for their efforts, but not everything goes quite to plan. There are issues with pacing, particularly towards the end of each act, while technically the production’s reach often exceeds its grasp.
first night glitches
Some of the problems were down to first night glitches, but far too often mic-switching problems, together with delays in lighting and sound cues, meant that important moments were overshadowed. It was particularly unfortunate that these problems, together with issues of sound balance, meant that the Witch’s early, tongue-twisting patter number that explains so much of the plot was very difficult to make out. At the other end, much of the denouement was similarly lost.
Any lack of momentum caused by this is more than compensated for by the musical content, which is genuinely impressive.
Running time: Two hours and 50 minutes (including one interval).
Church Hill Theatre, 40 Morningside Road, EH10 4DR
Tuesday 20 – Sunday 24 January 2026
Evenings at 7.30 pm; Matinee Sat at 2.30 pm
Tickets and details: Book here.
A scene from Eusog’s Into the Woods. Pic Andrew Morris.
ENDS
