‘Fizzing with mischief and magic’ 

Daily Telegraph 

‘This production takes us by the hand and leads us into its magical world.’ 

Scottish Daily Express

Synopsis

Act 1 

Once upon a time… 

There was a town where children had mysteriously been disappearing, one by one, ever since the arrival of a new teacher at the local school. She seemed nice enough and the children certainly enjoyed her stories, but they especially liked the seemingly endless supply of sweets she gave them. 

There are now only two children left in the town, Hansel and Gretel. They are locked in their house every day for their own safety. However, they miss their school friends terribly and are bored with each other’s company so, they hatch a plan to go and find their friends. After all, the adults don’t seem to be doing much! 

But, Hansel and Gretel’s parents are working day and night to keep food on the table. And all there ever seems to be left to eat is bread. Hansel and Gretel are constantly hungry. 

Once ready for bed, Hansel and Gretel wait for their parents to fall asleep on the sofa, just like they do every night. But this night is different. Hansel and Gretel creep out of the house to find their friends, and their adventure begins. 

They walk along the main street seeing people with no place to call their home, a gang of men calling themselves ‘The Ravens’ and a very glamorous lady sweeps past them. She looks familiar and it isn’t until she hands them both lollipops that Gretel recognises her as the schoolteacher they used to like. So, they follow her all the way to the edge of town. 

They lose their way and find they’re alone in a forest. Hansel is frightened, but Gretel is fearless and tells him to mark their pathway by dropping breadcrumbs on the ground so they can find their way back home. Hansel is already extremely hungry, but does as he’s told. Unknown to them both, as fast as they drop them, they are being picked up by birds, ravens in fact, that are following them. Once Gretel discovers this she tries to scare them off, but they’re not frightened. In fact, they lead Hansel and Gretel deeper and deeper into the forest.  

The moon begins to shine and cradled in it is a beguiling and beautiful woman. This mysterious, yet familiar, woman bewitches Hansel and Gretel and conjures up a Sandman who sprinkles magic sand in their eyes that sends them into a deep sleep.  

They dream their parents have found them. And because they are so hungry they dream of a huge banquet with every roast dinner they could ever imagine. But as they sleep, the lady from the moon hovers above sieving flour onto them as though she was going to cook them… 

Act Two 

Hansel and Gretel are sleeping in the forest, their Mother, Father and neighbours are frantically searching for them. The ravens have gathered around Hansel and Gretel and the mysterious lady from the moon conjures up a Dew Drop Fairy to wake them up. 

Gretel wakes first and notices lollipops and sweets in the trees. Then, she sees a house made from gingerbread, icing and candy canes. She wakes Hansel and they venture inside, followed closely by the lady from the moon. 

Once inside Hansel and Gretel see more sweets, cakes and candy than they could ever imagine and eat as much as they can before they are interrupted by a figure walking past the window. They hide as they watch the door creak open. In walks the mysterious lady but as she takes off her cloak she begins to turn into something else. A witch. 

She sees Hansel and Gretel and although they’re afraid she convinces them to come out from their hiding place. She shows them around her house; Gretel wants to leave, however the Witch convinces them to stay. 

Hansel discovers a doll’s house and the witch encourages him to look inside. He does but finds he is imprisoned in a cage and Gretel realises there’s no way out of the house now. The witch explains that she’ll fatten Hansel up over the next few days and when his finger feels plump enough she’ll eat him. She sets Gretel to work and shows her how to stoke the fire in which she plans to cook Hansel. 

Gretel tries to steal the key to the cage from the witch. She succeeds and once she frees Hansel they both push the witch in the oven! 

All is still, until they begin to see children appearing all around them, their friends from school! By destroying the witch they have broken her spell and more than that, their parents have found the gingerbread house.  Everybody is re-united and they all live happily ever after.