skip the panto and see into the woods for london’s best christmas night-out

Into the Woods at the Bridge Theatre is a triumph (Picture: Johan Persson)

Into the Woods is arguably Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece,but its brilliance is more fragile than some of his sturdier works,which can succeed on the strength of a few strong voices alone. 

This musical demands far more. To be done well,it requires an ensemble of top-tier performers,including in supposedly minor roles,thanks to the score’s notorious technical difficulty. 

At the same time,James Lapine’s book must be handled with a blend of irony and sincerity so precise that a misstep risks tipping the show into either cloying earnestness or gratuitous darkness.

Jordan Fein’s new production at the Bridge Theatre doesn’t merely meet those demands,it exceeds them,transforming a very good musical into something genuinely transporting.

With seamless,cinematic staging,Tom Scutt’s dreamy pop-up storybook set,and panto-inspired costumes and props that function as comic (and occasionally dramatic) performers in their own right,this Into the Woods feels simultaneously reverent and full of new life. 

Most impressively,Fein forges a perfect marriage between two traditions: Sondheim’s distinctly American theatrical intelligence and the anarchic British joy of pantomime. 

The dreamy stage design adds to the magic (Picture: Johan Persson)

Kate Fleetwood,who plays the Witch,gives one of the best performances the West End has seen in years (Picture: Johan Persson)

This Christmas,you can skip the tired fairy cow and compulsory audience-participation groans and instead bring the family to experience a fairytale with wit,danger,puppets,and hats,that’s funny enough to earn its laughs honestly.

There isn’t a weak link in the cast,a difficult thing to accomplish in a musical with no clear lead role. 

Jamie Parker’s Baker and Katie Brayben’s Baker’s Wife bring uncommon chemistry and emotional specificity to roles that can sometimes feel like narrative glue. Their relationship feels lived-in and tender,rather than purely functional. 

The story opens with the childless couple learning from their next-door witch that they must retrieve Cinderella’s slipper,Rapunzel’s golden hair,Little Red Riding Hood’s cloak and a cow as white as milk in order to lift a generational curse.

The Baker and the Baker’s Wife lend a special tenderness to the roles (Picture: Johan Persson)

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It is a reminder of what Sondheim – and all our great artists – have taught us about storytelling,complexity,and empathy. Over Christmas 2025,when the world feels too dark for shallow distraction,this is the fairytale to see: One with teeth,heart,and intelligence,and a resonant reminder that No One Is Alone,even when you’re lost deep in the woods.

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