Hansel and Gretel: A nightmare in eight scenes

Duration:

60'

Hansel and Gretel: A Nightmare in Eight Scenes was commisioned by Goldfield Productions with generous support from Arts Council England, John S Cohen Foundation, Colwinston Trust, Double O Foundation, Foyle Foundation, Leche Trust, PRS Foundation, Radcliffe Trust, RVW Trust. The staged work, created for performance with live puppetry and visual projections was inspired by the visual creations of artist Clive Hicks-Jenkins. His quirky, humorous Hansel and Gretel characters had appeared as prints, in picture books and as a toy theatre for Pollocks Toy Shop. It seemed a natural development to bring these ideas to the stage using a much-loved story framework to tell of a darker, glittering Hansel & Gretel for the 21st century.

This unique touring production brought together the commissioned poetry of Simon Armitage in a new extended lyrical ‘libretto’ entwined with chamber music by Matthew Kaner, one of the most original voices of his generation.  The Hansel and Gretel characters originally created by Hicks-Jenkins have been reimagined and brought to life under his direction by three further outstanding artists: a puppet-maker, a model-maker and a paper-cutter.

Kaner’s ensemble features an unusual dark-hued collective of viola, cello, cor anglais, clarinet and horn, supplemented by the eerie childhood sounds of toy pianos led by the remarkable story-teller and soprano Adey Grummet. Hansel & Gretel delves deeply into the twisted themes of the original tale, creating an uneasy yet curiously familiar fairytale landscape where nothing is quite as it seems….

Programme Note © Goldfield Productions 2018