Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical Into The Woods throws a bunch of the most beloved fairy tale characters—Red Ridinghood, Cinderella, the Wicked Witch, Rapunzel, Prince Charming, the Big Bad Wolf—into a blender, adds a heaping dash of sharp edges, and liquifies any rigid ideas about which of them is good and bad. Infused with smart decisions by the actors and the crew, Ford’s Theatre’s production leans into both the humor and, through the help of excellent projections, the storybook-like quality of the musical, making us all children trying to learn the contours of a dangerous world.

It makes sense that a show as obsessed with mythmaking as Into The Woods would find a home at Ford’s Theatre, the scene of one of the best-known stories in American history. The production currently staged at the building where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated leans into the connection between the fairy tales that supposedly guide children and the stories that comprise our historical memory—the on-stage narrator (Scott Sedar) wears a National Park Service ranger uniform, tying him to the NPS-run facility putting on the show.

This is a play that knows it’s a play. The ever-important cow, Milky White (Tiziano D’Affuso), isn’t realistic as far as bovines go, but the hilarious way it responds to and and interacts with the actors is a highlight that makes it clear why Jack (Samy Nour Younes) would consider the animal his best friend. The play’s depiction of Cinderella’s birds and the hen that lays golden eggs similarly forgo naturalism for playfulness. When the charming Little Red Ridinghood (Jade Jones) has her “What big eyes you have” moment, the action converts to animation, the zenith of clever lighting design from Rui Rita. The dreamy cartoon is a clever way to depict a wolf eating a child—you get the horror, but it’s silly, too, and it feels straight out of a children’s book.

And for all of the royalty that inhabit this show, the starring roles go to the working class characters—the Baker (Evan Casey) and his wife (Awa Sal Secka). They’re both winning, and Secka in particular is a standout.

The zippy, hilarious first act is all about the characters getting what they wished for, while the second half tackles the consequences of these dreams coming true, and it lags a little. But perhaps that’s what happens when the adrenaline boost from killing a mighty giant wears off, and you learn that the huge creature left behind a loving wife.

Into the Woods runs at Ford’s Theatre through May 22. Tickets $20-$83. Runtime two hours and 45 minutes with one intermission.