(Ben Brantley’s article appeared in The New York Times, 1/12; via Pam Green.)

A lively squadron of archetypes, long familiar to fans of popular myths, wanders into a mysterious forest. Uncanny and unsettling things happen there, including encounters with a witch. Songs are sung, lessons are learned, and by the end all these explorers have grown just a bit in their knowledge of life’s uncertainties.

You think you know this story already? It’s true that variations on it are being told a lot these days, what with both a current movie version and an Off Broadway revival of the Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical “Into the Woods.”

But the particular retelling I’m thinking of is a play by Tina Satter called “Ancient Lives,” which opened on Saturday at the Kitchen. And when Ms. Satter heads into the woods, I assure you it’s a very different head trip.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/theater/tina-satters-ancient-lives-is-at-the-kitchen.html