Hänsel UnD GRETEL, August-October 2023

Opera Kipling - Upstairs at the Gatehouse, UK / Théâtre Basse Passière, France

*** Nominated OffWestEnd OffFest awards for the 2024 Camden Fringe ***

*** Finalist in Best Adaptation category in the 2024 London Pub Theatre Awards ***

After the critical success and multiple nominations of La Cenerentola for the Camden Fringe, Opera Kipling asked me back to direct Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel. Aimed at new opera audiences as well as opera veterans, this critically acclaimed production set the piece in the US in the 1950s, and alongside the childish fun of the piece, it also explored the themes of deprevation and self medication in the aftermath of the trauma of WW2, and the darker aspects that lay not far behind the picture perfect image of the 1950s nuclear family. You can read the programme notes here.

Design, Direction and Lighting Design: Guido Martin-Brandis; Costume design: Guido Martin-Brandis and Laura Curry; Wig technician: Cristina Semertzaki

Gretel - Rebecca Milford

Hänsel - Wiktoria Wizner

Mother/Witch - Grace Lovelass

Father - Alex Pratley

Dew Fairy / Sandman - Isolde Roxby

Music Director - Giannis Giannopoulos

Reviews

Jane Darcy - The Reviews Hub - 5 stars

★★★★★

“The wonderful pocket-sized opera company, Opera Kipling, returns to Camden Fringe with another enticing offering: Hansel & Gretel. And it’s another gem.”

“Here, under the masterful direction of Guido Martin-Brandis, the five-strong cast gives terrific performances.”

“Martin-Brandis directs them with great imagination. What could be twee or repetitive is here vividly playful. Beneath the superficial tensions between them, the children are instinctively protective of one another when the dangers of the outside world threaten them. Particularly moving is their duet, Evening Prayer.”

“Alex Pratley is great as the defeated father, taking hopeless nips from his hip flask to keep him going. Grace Lovelace is absolutely superb as the uptight mother and later as the cunning witch. She’s dangerously seductive. There’s a great visual joke about Mother’s dependence on her little helpers, constantly necking pills from a container. As the situation worsens, she can’t hide her dependence: ever larger pill-shaped pieces of foam rubber poke out of her apron pocket, the final one the size of a calzone. And there’s a nice moment where we see the effect on the children trying to mirror their parents, consuming pills and alcohol.”

“Opera Kipling makes imaginative use of a small stage. The Puck-like figures of the Dew Fairy and the Sandman, played gracefully by Isolde Roxby, create magic with simple means.”

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Srabani Sen - LondonPubTheatres.com - 5 stars

★★★★★

““a marvellous production”

“The set was simple but inspired”

“A musical gem, and Opera Kipling more than did it justice.”

“The [children] had great chemistry as the mischievous, playful siblings. Their Act 1 duet when Gretel teaches Hansel how to dance, was a sheer delight.”

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John O’Brien - Londontheatre1 - 4 stars

★★★★

“A fantastic show.”

“I was enthralled, entertained and engaged for the entire duration.”

“Less is more. That was my feeling as I watched this delightful production of Hansel and Gretel by Opera Kipling.”

“The brother and sister of the title… are both terrific. Grace Lovelace and Alex Partly are superb as the bad parents. After the interval, the show goes up a gear. Grace reappears this time as the Witch. She is terrifyingly wonderful.”

“I can think of no better enjoyable introduction to German culture than this utterly delightful version of Hansel and Gretel.”