HANSEL AND GRETEL. To 4 January.
London.
HANSEL AND GRETEL
Barbican Theatre To 4 January 2009.
2-4 Jan 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm.
Runs 1hr 20min No interval.
TICKETS: 0845 120 4678.
www.barbican.org.uk/bite (reduced booking fee online).
Review: Timothy Ramsden 28 December.
Colourfully big-scale if uncertain in detail.
Playing away from Home, it’s not surprising this piece from Catherine Wheels, one of Scotland’s major theatre companies working for young people, should have double casting for most roles. With up to four shows a day, they have a tough schedule. The exception seems to be Steve Kettley – but who could be an equivalent to this redoubtable musical man of Scottish theatre?
Audience members are ushered backstage at the Barbican to find Hansel and Gretel arriving home after being deserted first time in the forest. Mother’s been rejoicing in her apparent freedom from them, her badness illustrated in her musical taste and dislike of her husband’s saxy riffs.
Originally performed around a disused mine as part of the National Theatre Scotland’s inaugural multi-production Home, this story has also been seen in an earlier version at the Bank of Scotland Children’s Theatre Festival in Edinburgh.
At the Barbican, for 8+, it’s theatrically impressive as we enter the family’s living-room, then follow Hansel and Gretel though the woods to the final, longest scene where standing and promenading around various locations is exchanged for a seat, and party-hat, in the Witch’s house. No surprise she’s played by the same actor as Mother, and makes a striking transformation from kindly fusspot to scary crone, waking the children in their comfy beds to their horrid fate.
Yet the story’s dramatic core is explored less than its staging potential is exploited. It’s hardly surprising; spoken dialogue’s minimal, perhaps reflecting the piece’s outdoor origins. Why is there a 1970s setting? And wouldn’t any mother feel fed-up when dad and kids are couch-potatoes calling for food? Or is that, with a subtlety young audiences might find hard to detect, part of the point? The Witch, mother’s alter ego, accordingly starts by seeming to provide everything, then puts the kids to work. And how does Hansel escape from his cage when the Witch is burned?
A theatrical feast, then, and an experience, but leaving questions unanswered. And has nobody at the Barbican noticed the ungrammatical notice stuck to their theatre’s door? Or does nobody there care about such things?
‘Cellist: Hannah Marshall/Joel Sanderson.
Father/Saxophonist: Steve Kettley.
Gretel: Natalie Dew/Susan Harrison.
Hansel: Dylan Kennedy/Tommy Mullins.
Stepmother/Witch: Cassie Friend/Helena Lymbery.
Director: Gill Robertson.
Designer: Karen Tennent.
Lighting: Jeanine Davies.
Sound: Mark Sodergren.
Composer: Steve Kettley.
Video: Jonathan Charles.
Costume: Alison Brown.
2009-01-02 09:43:04