Angel Sharp presents

adapted from the fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm

A magical tale of a brother and sister left in the woods, who come across an enchanting house...

A beautifully told, enticing story, adapted from the well-known fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm.

Hansel and Gretel was performed from the 22nd to the 26th January 2002 at the Old Fire Station Theatre, Oxford.

Reviews:
Oxford Student:
"It's an assured debut…a psychedelic delight…Hansel and Gretel for the 21st century…it could almost be the Terry Pratchett version… It's riotously funny, the company is obviously enjoying themselves, and that mood is infectious." more...

Cherwell: Play of the Week
"Magical atmospheres… delicious layer of savagery and wicked humour. This is fun, engaging, theatre."

Hansel and Gretel is the tale of a brother and sister who are left in the woods by their father and stepmother to prevent the whole family from starving in the famine.

The parents take them deep into the woods, then abandon them, telling them that they are going to chop wood, and leave a stick banging against a tree to make the sound of the father's axe whilst the children stay round the fire. However Hansel has left pebbles behind him as they are taken into the wood, so the children find their way home.

A year later another famine has arrived, and the stepmother again convinces the father that they cannot keep their children. Not having time to gather pebbles before they leave this time, Hansel drops a trail of breadcrumbs, but the crumbs are eaten by beasts of the wood. They are lost, alone, and starving.

After two days of trying to find their way home with only berries for food, they come across a snow white dove whose song is so beautiful that they follow it to a little house. The house is made of bread, covered with cakes and sweets, and the windows are made of clear sugar.

The children are so starving they start to eat the house, until they hear the voice of an old lady calling at them asking who they are. She tempts them in with promises of more, cooks them dinner, and gives them a bed to rest. But the old lady is a witch, whose house and bird are designed to attract little children so she can feast on them. During the night she takes Hansel from his bed and locks him in a cage, without even his teddy bear for comfort.

The next morning she orders Gretel to work for her and cook for her brother to make him fat. Hansel starts to get plump, but whenever the witch, who is all but blind, goes to check how well-fattened he is, he stretches out a stick for her to feel, so she never realises how fat he is.

After four weeks the witch has become impatient, so decides to cook Hansel anyway. She asks Gretel to check the oven, to see if it is hot enough. Gretel knows what the witch has in mind, and says she doesn't know how to get into the oven or whether she would fit. The witch mocks her and climbs into the oven to prove that Gretel could fit in. Gretel seizes the chance, and closes the oven door behind the witch to let her burn. She frees Hansel, and they ransack the house, filling their pockets with the hoards of jewels the witch has put away for a rainy day.

Then, while looking for Hansel's teddy, they find a treasure chest. It is difficult to open, but when they manage to, they find it is filled with magic! The witch's house disappears and they are led back to their home. Their father is ecstatic to see them again, especially since his wife has died since they last saw him.

So the family was reunited, and they all lived happily ever after.

Bennet Summers
Angel Sharp