SOURCE: “Contemporary Performance: The Emergence of the Fairy Tale,” in Performing Arts Journal, Vol. 11, No. 1, Winter, 1989, p. 51-53, 60-61, 64, 66.

In the following excerpt, Manken details the creation of Into the Woods. She describes the production, comments on how “the woods” serve as a metaphor for the world, and includes commentary from Sondheim.

History of the Project

After their collaboration on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Sunday in the Park with George (an exploration into the dynamics of the creative spirit through the work of painter Georges Seurat), Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine wanted to do something “lighter.” Lapine was struck with the idea of working on a subject that had long fascinated him theatrically: fairy tales. The psychology of fantasy and fairy tale is not a new context for Lapine, whose Twelve Dreams directly reflected his interest in Jungian and Freudian theory, a source he has turned to many times...