If you go down to the woods today, you may get a big surprise.

A group of young actors from a performing arts school in Douglas recently performed their versions of a modern re-telling of some of the classic fairy tales.

Cinderella, Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, the big bad wolf and Jack, albeit minus his beanstalk all appeared at various stages throughout the production of ’Into The Woods’, a Broadway musical written by Stephen Sondheim, in which, unlike many fairy tales, life does not necessarily have a happy ending.

The play was performed on Tuesday to Thursday last week, and directed by Beth Brown, from the Youth Arts Centre, Kensington Road, Douglas. Beth explained that this musical is a step away from the type of production normally produced by the group.

’Normally the Youth Arts centre puts on a lot of 80s-type teenage musicals, like Hairspray, Camp Rock, that type of thing,’ said Beth. ’They are usually very bubbly and typically cheesy american musical theatre. So this time around we thought it might be a good time to have a change, and do something a bit darker.

’This one is set in England, and it features different fairytale characters coming into the woods and becoming invoplved with the main characters, the baker and the baker’s wife, who were cursed by a witch, and they cant have their own family. This play is 90 per cent singing, and is quite operatic in a way, but in a way that kids can perform it too.

’The cast have really worked quite hard to get it right, but it has come together, and we have all been very excited to perform it this week.

’We have anybody, from anywhere on the island, from the ages of 11 upwards. None of our actors go to a theatre school as such. This is something they have decided to do themselves for fun, which is what the Youth Arts Centre is all about.’

Ellie Greham as Little Red Riding Hood and Mary Teare as the witch

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