HISTORY | Em Into the Woods

History of Into the Woods
A Timeline from "Fairy Tale Origins" to "Past Productions"

Women typically created fairy tales with a distinct purpose in mind: to protest the societal constraints that were placed upon them, and to emphasis their own rights as women, in a man's world.
Women like the Countess d’Aulnoy and the Contess de Murat struck back at the misery of their marriages by creating and telling fairy tales that didn't always feature happy endings.
Throughout history, tales continued to be told and retold as women spent much of their time together, spinning, weaving, and sewing.
In a world where women were expected to remain silent, their tales allowed them to create heroines that were strong and enabled them to pass on stories to their daughters and granddaughters that taught powerful lessons of conquering adversity and rewarding virtuousness.

It is possible that fairy tales started in Biblical times, citing their evidence in Paul's warning to women to refrain from idle gossip.
There have been many different versions of Cinderella published and retold throughout the years, but the oldest version appears to date back to 860 CE in China. While some of the characters are distinctly different from the frequently told story of today, there is a definite commonality between the ancient Chinese version and today's tale.

Into the Woods draws plot lines and characters from a variety of Brothers Grimm fairy tales, such as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack and the Beanstalk. James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim were drawn by the true morals of the main characters of these stories. They aimed to make the first act about each character's individual quest, and the second act about the consequences of their actions and coming together as a community. Sondheim also claims that he drew on parts of his troubled childhood, using his parents as the basis for characters like the Baker and Jack's Mother.
Over its history, the script has been tweaked for certain productions. The original San Diego production included a story line about the Three Little Pigs and was eventually cut, but then brought back for the 2002 Broadway revival. The original London production added "Our Little World," a duet between the Witch and Rapunzel, which was included in many subsequent productions. The recent Public Theatre production removed the character of Cinderella's Father.