E

ssentially it’s impossible to stage Stephen Sondheim’s Into The Woods in 48 hours, said Showtime Challenge 1 host, Mel Smith, just before Eyebrow Production did just that in July 2004 at the New Theatre, Oxford.

The idea to stage and rehearse an entire musical production in just two days was an idea borne out of meetings between Bristol University students - the founder members of Eyebrow Productions. As the idea developed in 2003, and was discussed at greater length, most usually in a pub with a few pints to hand, the team grew, the idea became more than just a ‘what if?’, and a 2,000 seat theatre was booked.

Soon, auditions were held, a cast was chosen, and the team set to work organising everything so that not only would the show be a full-scale production, but it would be done of very little budget, with all involved volunteering, and all proceeds raised donated to the Oxford Children’’s Hospital campaign.

As July approached, all was going relatively well according to plan, but there was still the small task of the show to come. Mel Smith who had joined the venture to host the evening remarked: ‘I think they’re all mad personally, but I admire their balls!’ Indeed both cast and crew were all slightly nervous and the Showtime weekend was not without its challenges, not least that the show had not had a full tech run before the audience took their seats.

However, as one reviewer wrote, ‘there was humour and excitement in equal measure’ and many remarked that if they had not been told, they never would have guessed director John Sheerman had just 48 hours to work with the cast.

The show itself is Sondheim at his best. Several fairy tales are woven together and flipped upside down to create a humorous, dark story following a baker and his wife in search of magic ingredients to lift a witch’s curse. The score is complicated, the songs lyrically complex, and the staging challenging - after all, on no budget, where is one find a golden egg and a milky-white cow? Not to mention a violent giant, several flying birds, and the ability to transform a gnarly, old witch into a stunning beauty in just seconds?