Imagine the annual Christmas pantomime, without Kelvin Hastings Smith in drag, line them up simultaneously, and basically you've got Gilbert & Sullivan's production of "Into the Woods".

In recent articles about the play, director Nick Bligh warned people that it wasn't going to be a like this, but really it's hard to tell the difference. It's true, there were dark moments, which were wonderful, but unfortunately, they were few and far between.

There are 21 characters in this play, but the anchoring characters are a baker (Philip Barnett) and his wife (Nancy Thompson) who cannot have children, because a curse was put on their house by a neighbouring witch (Paula Maguire). The witch tells them that if they bring her a red cloak, some cornsilk hair, a golden slipper and a milk white cow she will lift the curse. All of the characters have various, familiar, wishes - Cinderella wants to go to the ball, for instance.

The music was written by Stephen Sondheim and directed by Mark Dorrell. The book was written by James Lapine. It was based on child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim's "The Uses of Enchantment".

What follows is a tragicomedy. The baker and his wife aren't that great at stealing, despite their best intentions. The baker tries to snatch Red Riding Hood's (Paige Thompson) cloak but gives it back. The baker's wife steals the cow, but it walks off when she isn't paying attention, and on and on. Unfortunately, "Into the Woods", was so confusing it made you feel like you were lost in the woods.

First of all, who was the play meant for, children or adults? Since it was a play about fairytales, many people brought their children. The first half is mostly farcical pantomime material where characters trip over their own feet and blunder along. (Sadly, nobody throws candy at the audience.)

So it's for children, except that there is a fantastic horror-flick type scene in silhouette of a wolf being stabbed with a knife, and several scenes of debauchery. Alas, if only there was more debauchery.

The play's central theme, deflowering and loss of innocence would be lost on children. Toward the end of the play, the kids were looking somewhat dozy. The other theme, 'be careful what you wish for', doesn't work so well, because it takes hours (real-time), before anyone has any actual regrets about what they wished for.

The baker's family dynamics were also unsatisfying. At the beginning of "Into the Woods", the witch tells the baker that he has a sister he has never met, Rapunzel (Samantha Tavares). What she doesn't say is that she kidnapped Rapunzel and locked her away in a tower.

The baker immediately runs about the woods to collect the objects for the witch so he and his wife can have a baby, but it seems to mean little to him that he has a missing sister. There is never a moment where he regrets that he never knew his sister. There is never a moment of reunion between the two of them. What was the point of making them brother and sister? He also finds his long lost father wandering in the woods, but never resolves that relationship, either. What a missed opportunity.

Another confusing thing was the question of, when was the play over? The first half of the show ended with all problems resolved and the entire company on stage dancing and singing. It looked like a finale.

As the curtain went down, audience members stood around debating whether it was over or not. It was unclear from the programme. Had we done the second act or not? In the programme, songs like 'Opening: So Happy' and 'Agony Reprise', were listed, which could have been applied to many of the songs we'd already heard.

There were probably people who just accepted that it was over and left not realising it was an intermission, which is a shame because the show finally came into its own during the second half.

In Act II when the characters are supposed to be living happily ever after, a giantess (the voice of Deborah Raat) attacks the town, furious that Jack of beanstalk fame (Damian Elkinson) killed her husband. It is a great relief to finally see the cast united under a common conflict.

Now the whole thing becomes an apocalyptic vision of the television show "Survivor", as one by one, the cast are destroyed by the giantess. Like drowning rats, they begin attacking and betraying one another in their desperation. Even the narrator (Gordon Campbell) is inhaled by the giantess. In the end, only a skeleton cast is left behind.

Now the story turns more realistic as Cinderella's Prince (Burton Mazzone) turns out to be a womaniser who sleeps with the baker's wife in the woods. "I was raised to be charming, not sincere." It also turns out that Rapunzel, after being locked away in a tower for most of her life, has some mental health issues to work out. The witch gets her youth and beauty back, but loses her powers.

My favourite characters were the wolf (Eugene DeRosa) and Rapunzel's prince (Graeme Henderson). Mr. Henderson and Mr. DeRosa's comic gifts shone through. Mr. DeRosa as the wolf was perverted, lewd and deliciously not nice. As Red Riding Hood puts it, "I was scared, but excited at the same time". The wolf, the most interesting character in the play, was unfortunately killed off very soon into the action. What a disappointment, because the other villain in the play, while performed admirably by Paula Maguire, falls a little flat as a character. Her motivations are the same as every other witch in every Disney movie you've ever seen. She wants to be beautiful and young again. Yawn.

Other performances that should be congratulated include Mr. Elkinson and Miss Thompson, and Miss Thompson's mother, Nancy Thompson. They had a stunning amount of material to memorise and they carried out their parts admirably. Other great performances included Alison Evans as Cinderella, Philip Barnett, as the baker and Burton Mazzone as Cinderella's Prince.

What I found most stimulating about this play was the scenery and creative props designed by Cleo Pettitt. I love the simplicity of the white cow contrasted with the complexity of the forest. The tree tops in the forest are the heads of women in a retro style. I also loved Cinderella's Prince's white horse, sliding across the stage, larger than life. It left me wondering if I could get such a thing into my living room.

There's a great line in the play that sums up the whole thing. Red Riding Hood tells the baker and his wife, "You're not good, you're not bad, you're just nice." She chases this down with a grimace of distaste. It's an excellent way to describe the play itself, "nice".

Into the Woods is on at City Hall tonight and tomorrow at 8 p.m. and there is a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. Tickets are $35 each.