Is Theatre Group Asia’s (TGA) choice to replace the traditional shadowy woods with a Filipino bahay na bato set as disappointing as some feared? It is not.

Many came expecting something closer to the Grimm Brothers’ aesthetic or the original Broadway production, but expectations often get in the way. Instead of a European fairytale forest, the audience is met with capiz shell windows, carved wooden arches and patterned Vigan tiles climbing from the floor to the stair risers.

“Filipinizing” the visuals actually pays off as it roots the production in heritage while celebrating its all-Filipino creative team and cast. Nothing feels forced. This staging reimagines Into the Woods through a Filipino lens with minimalist restraint.

The stage, with minimal props, resembles a grand provincial home. The forest itself is just out of sight, brought to life instead through the actors’ performances, falling timbers and rocks, sound design, drifting leaves, puppetry and the power of suggestion.

Artistic director Clint Ramos and director Chari Arespacochaga let movement, Sondheim’s music and lyrics, lighting and sound carry the audience “into the woods.”

The bahay na bato shifts meaning with lighting, blocking and how the actors use the space. The tiled stairs serve as the set’s backbone, dictating staging patterns, creating levels and offering natural sightlines for choreography. Characters rise or fall on these steps to assert control or retreat into vulnerability or intimacy. And the wide, shallow steps allow running, gliding and perching without breaking the visual flow.

Costumes delightfully feature Filipino motifs: Cinderella (Arielle Jacobs) wears terno sleeves; Red Ridinghood (Teetin Villanueva) has a dress inscribed with baybayin script; Salonga’s Witch first appears as a bruha, then transforms in a vegetable-green gown by Rajo Laurel, styled like a striking Santacruzan queen. There is also Rody Vera’s ermitanyo-looking Mysterious Man.