Why ‘lovely, dark & deep’?

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." (Robert Frost)

The woods are places of magic, imagination, discovery, transformation…

Shakespeare sends the lovers into the forest in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to sort out their tangled lives, where nature is in turmoil, where ultimately there is resolution and peace, and where Bottom has a most rare dream…

He sends Prospero and his baby daughter in “The Tempest” to a magic isle “full of noises, sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not” where they thrive, where enemies are brought to justice and where those who were enslaved find freedom.

The outcasts of “As You Like It” find shelter, food, kindness and romance in the Forest of Arden, allowing them to find themselves and each other.

In “Cymbeline” Imogen finds herself stranded in the forest but it offers her sanctuary, the discovery of her lost brothers and ultimately restoration.

The riotous culmination of “The Merry Wives of Windsor” unfolds amidst the trees of Windsor Park, Falstaff expecting a night of unbridled passion: “For me, I am here a Windsor stag, and the fattest I think in the forest!” but is forced to face up to some home truths.

Time and again the woods, the rural idyll, some kind of Arcadia, offer characters a time out, a place to dream, wonder, play, explore and learn about themselves.

And not just in Shakespeare.

How many fairy tales require their heroes and heroines to venture into the forest to undergo change and self-determination? Sondheim and Lupine’s “Into the Woods” captures this beautifully with every character embarking their own woodland journey to make their wishes come true. J.M. Barrie shipwrecks the butler, “The Admirable Crichton”, to a tropical heaven along with the household he serves, in order to examine the class system. Samuel Beckett sets his characters in strange, troubling wastelands for their journeys of discovery. The list goes on.

Lovely, Dark & Deep Productions offer actors and audiences the chance to explore the magic and imagination of theatre, the power of words and movement, the extraordinary places of transformation and redemption.

So what are you waiting for? Like Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, like Imogen, Rosalind, Lysander and Demetrius, come with us, step into the woods…