Finally opening to press a year after its original 2023 run was gutted by company illness and cancelled performances, Simon Armitage’s adaptation of the classic Brothers Grimm story is a real treat, albeit far from a sickly sweet one.
Written in droll rhyming verse (what else?), the Poet Laureate’s version of Hansel and Gretel is bookended by narration from a seen-it-all confectionary vendor (Jenni Maitland), whose grungy modern dress sets the tone for a show that’s definitely not set in medieval Germany. There are no specifics on where it is set, but resourceful siblings Hansel (Ned Costello), Gretel (Yasemin Özdemir) and their parents would appear to be living in some wartorn county, or perhaps a refugee camp – you can clearly see a resonance with the Balkans, or Gaza, or dozens of other places, but Armitage is deliberate to avoiding heavy handed parallels.
It’s a set up that offers a more morally nuanced backdrop than usual to the age old question of ‘why did Hansel and Gretel’s parents leave them in the woods?’, and also provides a very different take on the Witch, here entertainingly played by Beverly Rudd as a blustery Manc. It turns out that despite the kids’ fears, she’s actually ’only’ a child trafficker profiteering off the war, with no intention of eating Hansel or Gretel (she just wants to sell them off into slavery).
She does still live in a house made of giant sweets, so don’t worry that Armitage has given everything a gritty backstory. Indeed, Nick Bagnall’s production is often delightfully whimsical, particularly the hallucinatory introduction of the house, where designer Rae Smith gets to go a bit nuts and we’re treated to such odd moments as a celebration of Barratt foam shrimps. There are also some very nice songs with lyrics by Armitage and music by Patrick J Pearson that veer in tone from playfully daft to really quite touching.
It maybe trips over itself with an ending that overcomplicates the stark simplicity of the fairytale. The top price of £55 for seating also seems a bit much for a show that’s only an hour long. But conversely the £5 and £10 standing tickets feel like great value, with the early performance times (it is performed outdoors so can’t go on too late or everyone would freeze) meaning you can drop in on it and still have an evening left afterwards. And you won’t regret doing so – a play written by a poet can feel a bit worthy on paper, but my main takeaway is what a terrific entertainer Armitage is.
