We are all familiar with the story of Hansel and Gretel – two children abandoned in the woods by the evil stepmother who encounter a witch in her gingerbread house. Or are we? Kipper TIE’s interesting new take on the classic fairytale adds a modern twist.
Hansel, played by Iain Dootson, is not the lovely boy we imagined. He’s a bit spoiled, actually, and never does the washing up – even when it’s his turn! Gretel (Bernie Byrnes) has a bit more nous than a little girl should and the wicked stepmother (Sophie Hobson) is not wicked at all.
As the story unfolds we meet a variety of interesting characters, including the children-stealing Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, celebrity Red Riding Hood and a follically obsessed Goldilocks. The songs are well written with clever lyrics, particularly Goldilocks’. I found, however that the performances were not as strong as in their other show (The Mole Who New It Was None Of His Business). This is particularly noticeable during the songs, which are slightly out of the range of the performers voices.
In addition the characters were not ‘big’ enough to have a real impact on the children, many of whom switched off after a short time and while the show started with great promise, too much time was spent on setting up the story and introducing the characters. This meant that there was no time for the ending, which wound up all too easily and quickly. I enjoyed myself, however, and as far as children’s shows go, this one’s not bad.
3/5
Alexander Donald
