By: Kevin Thomas ~Campus News Editor~

If you want to leave Xavier this weekend, but you can’t physically, you can do so easily by going to Xavier Theatre’s production of Into the Woods, which will be open from April 20-22.

The show, directed by the artistic director from Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati, Lynn Meyers, will be the final show of the year.

“I think it’s really wonderful [to end the season with Into the Woods],” Emi Suarez, stage manager said. “Our theme for this season was kind of community, and I think it’s really showcased very well in this show… I think it really sums up what we were going for with this season very well.”

Into the Woods was written by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It is loosely based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows a baker and his wife, cursed to be childless by a witch, as they go on a journey into the woods to reverse the curse. They eventually meet Cinderella, Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk, Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel.

The musical goes on to describe what happens as they all try to have their wishes granted and how these affect their community.

“I think people are really going to enjoy it,” Suarez said, “especially if they have never seen Into the Woods before because it’s always just really fun to see the show for the first time and be surprised by everything that’s happening. I think if people have seen the show before, they’re still going to enjoy it, knowing what’s coming.”

However, the show has another interesting aspect to it, aside from the compelling plot: The set was entirely designed by senior Tori Kiraly for her senior thesis.

“I went to Stephen Skiles last year for my last advising meeting before senior year… and I told him that I wanted to set design,” Kiraly said. “He was like, ‘Well, we can put you on this show because this is the only one we don’t have a designer for yet.’”

Kiraly also thinks that the show will be a good one.

“It’s kind of like remembering your childhood as it was, and then also remembering how revisiting memories also changes them in a way,” Kiraly said. “So, you’re seeing all the good things, but that’s not how all the stories went, but, like, that’s OK. We’ve all been there, we’ve all done that.”

Tickets for Into the Woods can be purchased either at the box office in Gallagher Student Center or online at xavier.edu/theatretickets.