Character Analysis: Into the woods

Character 1: The Baker

Description: The Baker is an innocent but stubborn husband to his wife 'The Baker's Wife'. I also found out he is very restricting to his wife in the things she can do and help out with.

Costume and look of character: From quotes and descriptions in the script the baker wears a scarf and has hunting gear equipped. I also imagine his consistent colour scheme to be white and brown, for example brown plain clothes, preferably a robe type outfit, under a white apron and a white stereotypical chiefs hat.

Change of costume: The Baker doesn't have any costume changes throughout the play, but if he were to show some form of costume change, maybe he could have a different coloured apron for each scene/act, on the other hand the Baker is supposed to be someone who'd lead a normal life so maybe keeping the clothes the same throughout would show this in his character. I based my ideas of a typical design of a baker, inspiration was taken from characters in Disney films.

Emotional Status: The Baker's emotional status is loving towards other characters, happy and a genuine character but also serious at times (for example with this wife).

How they fit in with the play: The Baker is one of the main characters in this play although most of the play has ensemble characters. He has many songs and helps where he can to progress the story.

Character 2: Red Riding Hood

Description: This character is the classic little red riding hood character from every loved fairy tale. The script describes her at points skipping on and off stage which would add to the innocence of her character. But the script describes her also as someone who thinks of them self as an adult and a bit spoilt.

Costume and look of character: I decided to base the designs of this character off the connotations of her character in the script, for example red riding hood would indicate she wears a hood and red articles of clothing. Innocence is a trait described of her in the script and the colour associated with innocence is white, so I believe her colour scheme for her costume design should be white and red. Although the script also describes her as spoiled, which could annotate the colour of the red to look dirty and scruffy.

Change of costume: There are no major costume changes for this character bus instead she uses different accessories. If there were to be a costume change then I think she should just sometimes have the hood up for some parts of the play to show mystery and status over the other characters. For example when the wolf ushers her into adulthood after they meet the hood could then come off then to symbolise change.

Emotional Status: The emotional status of red riding hood would be joyful as she skips to most places but also being spoilt and considering herself as an adult at such a young age also unhappy as I get there impression there's no pleasing her with gifts.

How they fit in with the play: The red riding hood character follows out the journey she does in her classic story of The Little Red Riding Hood.

Character 3: The Wolf

Description: The wolf's character is from The little red riding hood story and is described as sly, confident, manipulative and in the original non-junior one as sexy.

Costume and look of character: Of course the first layer of the costume design would have to be the skin or the fur, for this a long black top could be covered in dark grey material overlapping to look fur-ish. For the head a wolf's head could be constructed using paper and glue with a moveable jaw for extra realise. Big wolf hands and feet can be used to help the audience visualise the character to a greater extent.

Change of costume: At one point in the play the wolf has to dress up as red riding hoods grandmother, much like the original play, so a large version of the grandmothers nightgown could be make and placed over the wolf with a velcro-ed backing so it can be easily put on and if maybe taken off.

Emotional Status: The wolf's sly, confident personalities leaves him having a high emotional status always a smile on his face, a happy but cheeky smile.

How they fit in with the play: The Wolf plays the part of trying to manipulate red riding hood.