The story of Rapunzel and its themes have appeared in literature and other forms of art. This page provides a small discussion of some of the better known treatments by authors and other artists. Novels produced by romance publishers are not listed on this page, but can be found on Romance Novels: Fairy Tale Romances at Rapunzel.

Literature   Poetry   Music   Film   Theatre

Literature: Novels

Dokey, Cameron. Golden. New York: Simon Pulse, 2006.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

NOVEL: From the publisher: "One so fair, let down your hair. Let us go from here to there." Before Rapunzel's birth, her mother made a dangerous deal with the sorceress Melisande: If she could not love newborn Rapunzel just as she appeared, she would surrender the child to Melisande. When Rapunzel was born completely bald and without hope of ever growing hair, her horrified mother sent her away with the sorceress to an uncertain future. After sixteen years of raising Rapunzel as her own child, Melisande reveals that she has another daughter, Rue. She was cursed by a wizard years ago and needs Rapunzel's help. Rue and Rapunzel have precisely "two nights and the day that falls between" to break the enchantment. But bitterness and envy come between the girls, and if they fail to work together, Rue will remain cursed . . . forever. "

Durst, Sara. Into the Wild. New York: Razorbill, 2007.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

NOVEL: From the publisher: "Twelve-year-old Julie has grown up hearing about the dangerous world of fairy tales, “The Wild,” from which her mother, Rapunzel, escaped. Now The Wild wants its characters back. Julie comes home from school to find her mother gone and a deep, dark forest swallowing her hometown. Julie must fight wicked witches, avoid glass slippers and fairy godmothers, fly griffins, and outwit ogres in order to rescue her mom and save her Massachusetts town from becoming a fairy-tale kingdom. Sarah Beth Durst weaves a postmodern fairy tale that’s fresh, funny, and sweetly poignant. "

Durst, Sarah. Out of the Wild. New York: Razorbill, 2008.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

NOVEL: From the publisher: "Beware the Wild—it bites. Ever since Julie Marchen helped defeat the fairytale world of the Wild, life’s been pretty much back to normal. That is, as normal as life can be for a girl whose mom is Rapunzel. Yes, that Rapunzel. Then the Wild mysteriously releases Zel’s prince (Julie’s dad!)—a rescue-minded hero who crashes full-speed ahead into the 21st century! (YOU try teaching a 500-year-old prince to use a seatbelt.) Julie’s over the moon, but when a wicked Fairy Godmother kidnaps Sleeping Beauty and reawakens the Wild, Julie and her dad set off on an action-packed adventure to save the distressed damsel… and the world. If they can’t, they’ll spend eternity in a fairytale." Sequel to Into the Wild.

Flinn, Alex. Towering. New York: HarperTeen, 2013.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in ebook or hardcover.

NOVEL: When Rachel was taken to live in a tower by a woman she calls Mama, she was excited. She felt like a princess in a castle. But many years later, Rachel knows her palace is really a prison, and begins to plan her escape. She is encouraged by the speed that her golden hair has been growing. It’s gotten long enough to reach the ground. And she’s begun dreaming of a green-eyed man. Could he be out there in the world? Is he coming to save her? Or will she find a way to save herself?

Geras, Adele. The Tower Room. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

NOVEL: A synopsis from Amazon.com: "A contemporary Rapunzel story follows the love affair between a boarding school student who lives in a tower room and a new laboratory assistant who scales a scaffold to her window. This is the first book in the trilogy by Geras about British schoolgirls whose lives parallel familiar fairy tales." The entire trilogy is: The Tower Room (Rapunzel), Watching the Roses (Briar Rose), and Pictures of the Night (Snow White).

Gray, Nicholas Stuart. The Stone Cage. London: Dennis Dobson, 1963.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: We meet a procession of wildly improbable characters such as Tomlyn the cat, who has also been a prisoner of the wicked witch - Mother Gothel, the Raven, Nannygow, Gobbolin and a troll called Battypan. All are involved in the battle to save Rapunzel from an evil fate. Gray also adapted this story into a stage play.

Hale, Shannon and Dean Hale. Rapunzel's Revenge. New York: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2008.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

GRAPHIC NOVEL: From the publisher: "Once upon a time, in a land you only think you know, lived a little girl and her mother . . . or the woman she thought was her mother.

"Every day, when the little girl played in her pretty garden, she grew more curious about what lay on the other side of the garden wall . . . a rather enormous garden wall.

"And every year, as she grew older, things seemed weirder and weirder, until the day she finally climbed to the top of the wall and looked over into the mines and desert beyond."

Holmes, Sara. Letters from Rapunzel. New York: Dennis Dobson, 2007.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

NOVEL: From the publisher: "Once upon a time, there was a girl. Let's call her Rapunzel. A modern-day version. Abandoned. Alone. Waiting for her hair to grow and dreaming of a way to escape from her tower. She was trapped, you see. Not in the conventional fairy-tale way—this was the dreaded after-school Homework Club. A desolate place, where no gum could be chewed, and where Rapunzel sat day after day, cursing the evil spell that had been cast over her father. The doctors called it something else, but a true heroine can smell an evil spell a mile away. So when a mysterious letter addressed to P.O. Box #5667 falls into her hands, she knows she's found the pea under her mattress. But since when is finding happily ever after as simple as Just Writing Back? Winner of the Ursula Nordstrom Fiction Contest, Sara Lewis Holmes's enchanting debut novel is a breath of fresh air. Told through letters, with a liberal sprinkling of fairy dust, Rapunzel's quest for a happy ending gives every reader something to believe in."

Mason, Jane B. and Sarah Hines Stephens. Princess School: Let Down Your Hair. New York: Scholastic, 2004.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.
Amazon.co.uk: Buy the book in paperback.

NOVEL: From the publisher: Rapunzel and Prince Val have been best friends for years. But lately, Val's too busy fawning over Rose. Rapunzel could really use Val and her other friends right now. Madame Gothel, the witch who keeps Rapunzel locked in the tower, just discovered that she has been climbing out to attend Princess School. Madame Gothel is furious--and determined to keep Rapunzel from escaping again. Will Rapunzel lose her friends, Princess School, and her freedom all at once--or is there a way to get the witch out of her hair?

Napoli, Donna Jo. Zel. New York: Dutton Books, 1996.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

NOVEL: A wonderful book about the witch, Rapunzel and the prince which presents the story from each of their points of view. Napoli has served the fairy tale world well with her fairy tale interpretations.

Robins, Madeleine E. Sold for Endless Rue. New York: Forge, 2013.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in ebook or hardcover.

NOVEL: After a blighted childhood, young Laura finds peace and purpose in the home of a midwife and healer. Later, she enrolls in Salerno's famed medical school—the first in the world to admit women. Laura and her adoptive mother hope that Laura can build a bridge between women's herbal healing and the new science of medicine developing in thirteenth century Italy.

The hardest lessons are those of love; Laura falls hard for a fellow student who abandons her for a wealthy wife. Worse, her mother rejects her as "impure." Shattered, Laura devotes herself to her work, becoming a respected medico. But her heart is still bitter, and when she sees a chance for revenge, she grabs it—and takes for her own Bieta, the newborn daughter of a woman whose husband regularly raided the physician's garden for bitter herbs to satisfy his pregnant wife's cravings.

Determined to protect her adored daughter from the ravages of the world, Laura isolates the young woman in a tower. Bieta, as determined as her mother, escapes, and finds adventure—and love—on the streets of Salerno.

Bieta's betrayal of her mother's love comes at a terrible price as lives are ruined and families are torn apart.  Laura's medical knowledge cannot heal her broken heart; only a great act of love can bring everyone forgiveness and peace.

Turgeon, Carolyn. The Fairest of Them All. New York: Touchstone, 2013.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in ebook or paperback.

NOVEL: In this kingdom, only one fairy tale can end with happily ever after.

In an enchanted forest, the maiden Rapunzel’s beautiful voice captivates a young prince hunting nearby. Overcome, he climbs her long golden hair to her tower and they spend an afternoon of passion together, but by nightfall the prince must return to his kingdom, and his betrothed.

Now king, he weds his intended and the kingdom rejoices when a daughter named Snow White is born. Beyond the castle walls, Rapunzel waits in her crumbling tower, gathering news of her beloved from those who come to her seeking wisdom. She tries to mend her broken heart but her love lingers, pulsing in the magic tendrils of her hair.

The king, too, is haunted by his memories, but after his queen’s mysterious death, he is finally able to follow his heart into the darkness of the forest. But can Rapunzel trade the shadows of the forest for the castle and be the innocent beauty he remembers?

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Poetry

Ang, Arlene. "Rapunzel." In Three Candles Journal. Online. Available: http://www.threecandles.org/archive/aang.html. [26 March 2007].

Bennett, Bruce. "The Skeptical Prince." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 124.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Broumas, Olga. "Rapunzel." Beginning with O. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1977.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Also available in:
Broumas, Olga. "Rapunzel." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 141.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Charman, Janet. "Rapunzel's mothers." Rapunzel Rapunzel. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1999.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

This collection contains many poems with fairy tale themes, some of which can be read on the Press page about the book at Rapunzel Rapunzel.

Cooley, Nicole. "Rampion." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 164.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Crapsey, Adelaide. "Rapunzel." Verse. New York: The Manas Press, 1915.

Read the poem on this site at Rapunzel .

Davidman, Joy. "The Princess In The Ivory Tower." Disenchantments: An Anthology of Modern Fairy Tale Poetry. Wolfgang Mieder, ed. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1985.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Dolin, Sharon. "Jealousy." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 99.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Dun, Rosemary. "Rapunzel." In Nth Position. Online. Available: http://www.nthposition.com/rapunzelamp.php. [26 March 2007].

Friman, Alice. "Rapunzel." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 123.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Hay, Sara Henderson. "Rapunzel." Story Hour. Fayetteville, AS: University of Arkansas Press, 1998.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Hemphill, Essex. "Song for Rapunzel." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 143.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Hewett, Dorothy. "Grave Fairytale." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 191.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Hillman, Brenda. "Rapunzel." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 134.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Kicknosway, Faye. "Rapunzel." American Poetry Since 1970: Up Late. Andrei Codrescu, ed. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows, 1989.

Lochhead, Liz. "Rapunzstiltskin." Dreaming Frankenstein and Collected Poems. London: Polygon Books, 1984.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

This poem originally appeared in:

Lochhead, Liz. The Grimm Sisters. London: Next Editions (In Association with Faber & Faber), 1981.

Mandel, Eli W. "Rapunzel." Disenchantments: An Anthology of Modern Fairy Tale Poetry. Wolfgang Mieder, ed. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1985.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Meyer, Gerard Previn. "Rapunzel Song." Disenchantments: An Anthology of Modern Fairy Tale Poetry. Wolfgang Mieder, ed. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1985.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Morris, William. "Rapunzel." The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems. London: Ellis & White, 1858, 1875.

Read the poem on this site at Rapunzel .

Nash, Ogden. "Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let’s Let Down Our Hair." Verses from 1929 On. New York: Random House, 1959.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Sajé, Natasha. "Rampion." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 111.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Sansom, Clive. "The Prince's Song." Return to Magic. London: Leslie Frewin, 1969.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

Sexton, Anne. "Rapunzel." Transformations. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1979.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

This poem is available online through Plagiarist.com at Rapunzel by Anne Sexton.

Spaar, Lisa Russ. "Rapunzel Shorn." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 74.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Spaar, Lisa Russ. "Rapunzel Shorn." Glass Town. Granada Hills, CA: Red Hen Press, 1999.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Spaar, Lisa Russ. "Rapunzel's Clock." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors.Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 112.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Spaar, Lisa Russ. "Rapunzel's Clock." Glass Town. Granada Hills, CA: Red Hen Press, 1999.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Strauss, Gwen. "The Prince." Trail of Stones. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1990.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Also available in:
Strauss, Gwen. "The Prince." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 75.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Tate, Allen. "The Ivory Tower." Collected Poems, 1919–1976. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989.

Terrone, Maria. "Rapunzel: A Modern Tale." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 193.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Trinidad, David. "Rapunzel." The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales. Jeanne Marie Beaumont and Claudia Carlson, editors. Ashland, OR: Story Line Press, 2003. p. 73.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

Untermeyer, Louis. "Rapunzel." The New Adam. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920.

Also available in:
Untermeyer, Louis. "Rapunzel." Disenchantments: An Anthology of Modern Fairy Tale Poetry. Wolfgang Mieder, ed. Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 1985.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Read the poem on this site at Rapunzel by Louis Untermeyer.

Vande Velde, Vivian. "And Now A Word From Our Sponsor."Tales From the Brothers Grimm and the Sisters Weird. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1995.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Viorst, Judith. "...And After Many Years, A Brave Prince Came At Last To Rescue the Princess." If I Were in Charge of the World and Other Worries: Poems for Children and their Parents. New York: Atheneum, 1981.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover or paperback.

Yolen, Jane. "The Golden Stair." The Faery Flag: Stories and Poems of Fantasy and the Supernatural. New York: Orchard, 1989.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in hardcover.

Williams-Noren, Carolyn. "Rapunzel’s Mother." In Literary Mama: A Literary Magazine for the Maternally Inclined. Online. Available: http://www.literarymama.com/poetry/archives/
001236.html. [26 March 2007].

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Music

Also see Rapunzel on the Folklore and Fairy Tale Music page.

I have listed primarily classical compositions of music using the themes of this fairy tale in either ballet, opera or some other musical style. I have also provided links to popular recordings of the music when available at Amazon.com. The advantage to these links is that you can listen to samples of the music at no charge.

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Film

To learn more about these films, please visit the
Internet Movie Database.

Rapunzel (1951). Ray Harryhausen, director.
Amazon.com: Buy it on DVD.

ANIMATION SHORT: Rapunzel through the eyes of Ray Harryhausen.

The Extreme Fairy Tales DVD features these shorts:

1. The Emperor's Nightingale (1948, Directed by Jirí Trnka and Milos Makovec)
2. The Brementown Musicians (1935, Directed by Ub Iwerks)
3. Tom Thumb (1936, Directed by Ub Iwerks)
4. Mary's Little Lamb (1935, Directed by Ub Iwerks)
5. Rapunzel (1951, Directed by Ray Harryhausen)

Fractured Fairy Tales: Rapunzel (1959-60) (TV). In Rocky and Bullwinkle. Jay Ward Productions.
Amazon.com: Buy it on DVD.

ANIMATION SHORT: The Fractured Fairy Tales segment became a popular part of the first season of the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (known under various names through the years) that premiered in the fall of 1959. They have remained in syndication ever since. Rapunzel originally aired in Episode 1 of Season 1.

Rapunzel (1979). Tom Davenport, director. Davenport Films Production.
Amazon.com: Buy it on DVD or VHS.

Davenport Films, an independent film company, has a wonderful short film titled Rapunzel, Rapunzel. This is the same film company that produced Willa: An American Snow White which has appeared on PBS. Please follow these links or click on a photo still to visit their website and learn more about this film. These movies are some of the best renditions of folklore on film.

Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre: Rapunzel (1983) (TV). Gilbert Cates, director.
Amazon.com: Buy the series on DVD.

Cast:
Gena Rowlands ... Witch
Jeff Bridges ... Prince
Shelley Duvall ... Rapunzel / Mother

This television series originally aired on Showtime for six seasons and a total of 27 episodes. To see a full episode list, go to Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre.

The 10th Kingdom (2000) (TV). David Carson and Herbert Wise, directors.
Amazon.com: Buy it on VHS or DVD.

Cast:
Kimberly Williams .... Virginia Lewis
Scott Cohen .... Wolf
John Larroquette .... Antony 'Tony' Lewis
Dianne Wiest .... The Evil Queen/Christine Lewis
Camryn Manheim .... Snow White
Ann-Margret .... Queen Cinderella

This epic 10-hour miniseries was a ratings bust on television Kimberly Williams is Virginia, a waitress who still lives with her janitor father (John Larroquette) and yearns for something exciting to happen to her. Her wish comes true when she and her father are transported from New York City into the nine kingdoms populated by characters from fairy tales of yore. They team up with a dog who's really a prince--Wendell, grandson of Snow White--changed into canine form by the evil Queen (Dianne Wiest), who plots to usurp Wendell's throne. Father, daughter, and his royal dogness are relentlessly pursued through the nine kingdoms by the Troll King (Ed O'Neill) and his three bumbling and horrible children, and the conflicted Wolf (Scott Cohen), who is allied with the Queen but tames his inner beast and falls in love with Virginia. The 10th Kingdom is a special effects extravaganza. There is indeed, as one character marvels, magic to behold here. But despite the Hallmark brand name and the presence of a grown-up Snow White (Camryn Manheim) and Cinderella (Ann-Margret), bewitched animals, magic mirrors, and trolls, this is not kid's stuff. It can get scary, surprisingly violent, and quite intense; you know, just like real fairy tales.

Amazon.co.uk link

Rapunzel (2007/8). Ed Roe, writer. Hat Trick/BBC Northern Ireland Production for BBC One.

The first fairy tale in the BBC Fairy Tales anthology is Rapunzel, updated by Ed Roe (Smack The Pony, Teachers, No Angels). The original fairy tale told the story of a girl with incredibly long hair, thought to be based on the legend of Saint Barbara, who was locked in a tower by her father and was made famous by the Brothers Grimm, who coined the catchphrase 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair'.

"For me the real challenge was trying to find a modern equivalent for the story," says writer Ed Roe. "With fairy tales, you're operating in a world of fantasy, where the drama is externalised and where the characters are generally iconic and uncomplicated, with clearly defined goals and moral positions."

"On a structural level Rapunzel, is a fairly small, intimate drama with a love triangle at its core, and love triangles are pretty much the basis of everything I write," continues Ed.

Ed's updated Rapunzel is set in the competitive world of tennis and tells the story of a failing male tennis player, Jimmy Stojkovic (Lee Ingleby). Jimmy is persuaded by his errant father, Sava (Shaun Williamson) to disguise himself as a woman in a final attempt to win the grand slam tennis final.

Ed continues: "The main character, Jimmy, is a guy who is struggling to be the hero, he constantly falls short of his own and everyone else's expectations of what it is to be a man. This sense of inadequacy, of not being the prince he feels he should be, disables him."

The plan goes awry when Jimmy falls in love with the beautiful reigning champion, Billy Jane Brooke (Charity Wakefield) much to the horror of her over protective mother (Geraldine James).

As to the enduring appeal of fairy tales, Ed adds: "I guess they appeal to the side of us that yearns for a sense of order to the world. As we grow up, we all lose a conviction that good will triumph over bad and gradually come to realise that we're not destined for a happy ending. Indulging in a fairy tale allows us briefly to recapture that innocence."

Rapunzel (2009). Glen Keane, director. Walt Disney Productions. Working title has also been Rapunzel Unbraided.

Due out in June 2009, much speculation about the film can be found on the web.

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Theatre

Crane, David and Marta Kauffman. Rapunzel. Book and lyrics by David Crane and Marta Kauffman. Music by Michael Skloff. London: Josef Weinberger.

MUSICAL: A funny, pointed and tongue-in-cheek retelling of an old time favourite, Rapunzel does more than have fun with a classic mix of Prince, long-haired beauty and witch. This is a seriously funny tale of a possessive mother, a tentative Prince Charming and a strong-willed, but naïve, young girl, all of whom grow up in some surprising ways during the course of the show.

Everman, Mariah. Rapunzel Uncut. New York: Playscripts, Inc., 2000.
Read more about the play on the Playscripts, Inc. website.

SHORT PLAY: The story of Rapunzel told by dueling narrators, with a misunderstood witch, an off-pitch Rapunzel, and an unimaginably stupid Prince.

Gray, Nicholas Stuart. The Stone Cage. London: Dennis Dobson, 1963. [Currently available from London: Josef Weinberger, 1963. ]

FULL-LENGTH PLAY: Those of us familiar with the plight of Rapunzel will recognise the basic plot of this play for youngsters with imagination. We meet a procession of wildly improbable characters such as Tomlyn the cat, who has also been a prisoner of the wicked witch - Mother Gothel, the Raven, Nannygow, Gobbolin and a troll called Battypan. All are involved in the battle to save Rapunzel from an evil fate.

Lapine, James. Into the Woods. Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by James Lapine. London: Josef Weinberger.
Amazon.com: Buy the book in paperback.

MUSICAL: A bewitching crew of classic characters romp through a "happily ever after" kingdom in this musical fairy-tale. Interweaving a hilarious mix of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, the Baker's Wife, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel in a multi-layered plot which ends happily in Act One, the musical then explores "happily ever after" in Act Two as previous actions come home to roost - with a vengeance!

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