Iris Theatre mark their tenth anniversary this year, and their residency at St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden has deservedly become a summer staple. But this year's family offering is a disappointment: a laboured and confusing take on the 'Hansel & Gretel' story.
Artistic director Daniel Winder has broadened the Grimm tale to encompass the mythology of Baba Yaga. So the witch in the gingerbread cottage now has two sisters, and the second half sees Hansel venturing into the afterlife to rescue Gretel. It’s an interesting exercise in myth-mixing, but as storytelling for children it’s unforgivably convoluted.
The audience shuttles between multiple stages in the gardens of the church, starting with Hansel and Gretel’s humble house and progressing through the woods to the full-scale (if not edible as billed) gingerbread cottage, all evocatively conjured by set designer Amber Scarlett. Indeed, visually it’s very impressive, including the climactic scenes inside the church itself.
The cast do their best to engage the young audience, Josie Brightwell and Will Kelly in particular bringing much-needed levity as the Baba Yaga sisters. But they’re battling uphill with a script that’s dry as dust; humour and entertainment are largely subjugated to lengthy exposition - at times it’s like watching a PhD on fairytales being acted out.
One problem is that Hansel and Gretel (Rosie Abraham and Dashaye Gayle) are cast as saviours not just of themselves but of their entire world. This turns what is fundamentally a story of a fractured family living through famine into something else entirely. In an era of food banks there is real resonance in the original tale, but by weaving in Baba Yaga and other mythology this is undermined.
There is merit in wanting to deliver a non-sugar coated version of these classics in the face of ubiquitous Disneyfied, pantomimic retellings; children will certainly leave with a wider knowledge of European folklore. But they could also be forgiven for feeling the original versions of these stories are dull and difficult to follow, which is a huge pity.