HANSEL & GRETEL. To 14 February.

Tour.

HANSEL & GRETEL
by Mike Kenny.

Oxfordshire Touring Theatre Company Tour to 14 February 2009.
Runs 1hr 50min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 21 December at Duns Tew Village Hall.

Showing small can be beautifully clear and rich.
It’s family meal-time for both chuildren and their parents. And that’s a good source of dissatisfaction among the children. So mother decides they’ll nourish themselves on stories instead of food. What follows is a rich dramatic diet, despite the confines of a small hall and a cast of four, with limited touring technology.

The Grimm tale of siblings Hansel and Gretel is handled by all four of the family, their individual imaginative resources being called upon to ‘help’ the story out of its more desperate moments. And Gretel’s eventual narrative take-over in particular, shows her maturing in confidence. Kenny makes a fascinating parallel between the resources needed by a story’s characters and the story-telling imagination of the family members.

Even the Stepmother, if she’s less than evil incarnate, is dealing with a difficult situation in the story – poverty and lack of food – one playing-off against the food refused by the ‘real-life’ children. And the ability to summon up energy and imagination to continue the story is a mirror for the resourcefulness that helps the children. Gretel survives the Witch’s torments and comes up with the idea of a bone substituting for Hansel’s ever-fattening finger (and here he visibly puts on weight).

And Hansel never gives up hope, even when his attempted escape’s foiled by every path leading back to the Witch’s cottage (which here, of course, is the family home, its spaces revealing a cage and oven). Again, both character morale and the ability to keep the story going relies on co-operative working, in contrast to the disruption of the family unit in the initial refusal to eat.

Add the usual animal interest and Kenny offers for 6+ an individual version that’s true to the story, doesn’t rely on a large cast and wraps up in its very nature the simplicity of setting. Most importantly, it’s briskly told and provided with a well-acted, clear production from director Karen Simpson, whose experience in presenting rich, complex yet entertaining and clear work for young people is evident, as is her ability to cast actors sympathetic to the appropriate economic yet non-patronising playing-style required.

Gretel: Emma-Jean Jeffries.
Hansel: David Levine.
Father: Chris Yalman.
Mother: Caroline Woodruff.

Director: Karen Simpson.
Designer: Rachana Jadhav.
Lighting: Mark Dymock.
Musical director: Andrew Dodge.

2009-01-04 23:55:43