Enter a world of light and shadow, of darkness and deception, a helter-skelter journey through ghostly horizons and feasts of sweetness.…
In 2018, Goldfield Productions were proud to present their brand new touring production: a re-imagining of the famous tale, created by a stellar artistic team.
Hansel & Gretel 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 brings 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…
Hansel & Gretel outreach focusses on the themes of home and homelessness and the power of storytelling. Activities include story-making workshops, a pop up fairy-tale touring production for our youngest audiences, large scale bespoke community events and site-specific storytelling theatre productions for young people.
