Into the Woods

From Rebecca:

The evening started with a quick run to MacDonalds with an Alex who hadn’t eaten all day and was about to make up for it. Ben and Duncan were along. There was much discussion of glycogen and insulin and all things chemistry. As we left MacDonalds the police were outside talking to street people, asking them to be considerate in their use of language and not to swear. Alex thought the police instead should be considerate and buy the 2 men a hot meal. “Think of the children,” the police said.

The musical was put on by The Canadian College of Performing Arts. The show was Sondheim’s Into the Woods. Seeing the show was a first for Ben. The rest of us had seen the show a couple of times in the past. I tried to give Ben the story in advance but Alex and Duncan were adamant that I not do that. To quote Alex, “Mum, you will destroy the rising action.” A good time was had by all. There were highlights that we had to discuss afterwards. Cinderella’s sisters were played by two men. The two princes were, of course, fantastic, both of them having agony so much painful than yours. The princes arrived on on scooters, rather than horses. They were also exceptional leapers, the right hand straight ahead, the left arm back at the same angle, making the audience laugh. Alex’s favourite character was Jared Crocket, from Duncan, B.C. who played the father and the steward. Ben’s favourite line was that when a person is into the woods, nothing is good, nothing is bad, you decide what is good and wrong no longer matters.

On the way home all of the boys agreed that the words “into the woods” is a deep metaphor, and one to use in life. This was their collective decision.  Ben had never heard of theatre in the round. We were there early enough to inspect the set while waiting for the show to begin.  He had never seen a revolving stage.

At the end of the night all of us can finish the line, “I really hate to ask it” ....  with ... “do you have a basket”.

We stopped by 7-11 on the way home. All of the guys in the car are well over 6 feet high but still like to go down the candy isle and get pop out of the soda machine.