Into the Woods is Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's darkly funny take on traditional fairytales so it might not do for the littlies. The first half of this three-hour musical stays largely with tradition but in the second half the wheels fall off various narrative wagons in ways that disturb, delight and demonstrate a questioning of various moral choices.

Actually, there are also wheels on Milky White, the lugubrious pet cow that Jack (Pippin Carroll) swaps for the five magic beans that will give rise to a giant beanstalk that will lead him to wealth stolen from the giant's kingdom in the sky and to the arrival of a giant revenge. (How to put a giant convincingly on stage? The alarming sound of giant footsteps, a few lighting tweaks and the wonderfully stern voice of musical legend Toni Lamond.)

Under Richard Block's direction and with a cast containing many experienced performers, this production takes full advantage of the opportunities of script and songs and gives the newish Gunghalin College Theatre a good showcasing.

There's a storyteller (Tony Falla) with an open book, doing Once upon a time… with style. There's a witch (Kelly Roberts) who has cursed a couple, the baker (Grant Pegg) and the baker's wife (Veronica Thwaites-Brown), who desperately want a child. There's Jack's mother (Debra Byrne), a woman of practical good sense who worries about the wits of her son.

There's Little Red Riding Hood (Sian Harrington) passing through their shop with a voracious appetite as she collects (and eats) bread on the way to Granny. There's a wolf (Alexander Clubb) lurking to catch her as she goes and when she gets there.

Rapunzel (Taylor Kunkel) sings atop a tower, which slides on and off in a pleasingly mysterious way, thanks to the set borrowed from Victorian Opera (as are most of the excellent costumes and, I suspect, Milky White, the cow on wheels with a suitcase handle placed helpfully on her back). Rapunzel's arrogant prince (Anthony Simeonovic) climbs the tower via her golden hair with some alarming results. Cinderella (Philippa Murphy) flees from her single-minded prince (Clubb), flattered, but not altogether comfortable, while her terrible stepmother (Miriam Miley-Read) and ghastly stepsisters (Jessica Baker and Kitty McGarry) pursue him with an awful single-mindedness that will have its own consequences.

Not all of the supposed heroes, especially the two narcissistic princes, are all that likeable. And even likable characters like Thwaites-Brown's no nonsense baker's wife make questionable choices as she and more mild-mannered husband (Pegg) go on a quest set by the witch (who may not be all she seems) so the curse can be lifted.

All of this is done with great verbal clarity, energy, strong ensemble skills and good singing. Damien Slingsby's hidden orchestra provides lovely support and Hamish McConchie's lighting design shows that moving lights can be subtle, especially in the slowly spinning leaf patterns on the closed curtains pre show. And unlike the film, there is an interval that is essential to the way the story works.

Lovers of Sondheim and Lapine will not be disappointed.