Bucks &amp; Oxon

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="694" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_HG-1060-1.jpg" alt="Hansel &amp; Grettel, Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-178808" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_HG-1060-1.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_HG-1060-1-800x555.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_HG-1060-1-400x278.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">All photo credits: Geraint Lewis</figcaption></figure>



If panto doesn’t do it for you but you still want to channel the Christmas spirit, the annual festive residency of the brilliant <a href="https://creationtheatre.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creation Theatre</a> at the <a href="https://www.thenorthwall.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">North Wall</a> theatre in Summertown, Oxford, is the hot ticket in town. 



This year&#8217;s Christmas show is <a href="https://creationtheatre.co.uk/show/hansel-and-grettel/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hansel &amp; Grettel</a> (it has two &#8216;t&#8217;s because writer/director Paul Boyd was given a copy of the Grimms fairytale using this variation as a child and decided to keep the spelling). It&#8217;s hard to sugar-coat a story about a witch who entices children into her gingerbread house deep in the forest so she can eat them &#8211; let&#8217;s call it a bittersweet treat. 



But Boyd makes it family friendly without being saccharine. While he doesn&#8217;t veer away from the darkness of the Grimm brothers&#8217; original, he injects plenty of levity and humour along the way. There&#8217;s a talking frog who rows the children across a lake, and a comedy flock of birds led by Gregory Peck, the showmanlike narrator with an entertaining &#8216;birds-eye view&#8217;. And when Hansel and his sister Grettel first lose their way in the forest because the birds eat the trail of bread they&#8217;ve dropped, there&#8217;s only one possible response from the children. &#8220;Crumbs!&#8221;.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="684" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BOATSCENE_1143.jpg" alt="Hansel &amp; Grettel, Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-178804" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BOATSCENE_1143.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BOATSCENE_1143-800x547.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BOATSCENE_1143-400x274.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



The production opens in Gothic horror mode, as a group of nine sinister figures, clad in long, black hooded cloaks like the plotters in BBC1&#8217;s The Traitors, set the scene for the shenanigans to come. They&#8217;re a Greek chorus, chanting &#8220;Tempus fugit&#8221; (time flies) to warn of the terrifying fate in store for the children if they lose track of time while wandering the woods. The Winter Moon is rising, you see, and with it returns the Witch of the Winter, who&#8217;s woken from a long sleep with an appetite so fierce it can only be sated by eating a brace of children. 



In an even darker twist, it turns out the witch persuades parents to abandon their own babes in the woods by putting the adults into a trance. The lighting and stage effects (hello, billowing clouds of dry ice) ramp up the drama even more. The set is bathed in witchy hues of green and purple at the most ominous plot points, with suitably menacing sounds off-stage.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Witch_0557.jpg" alt="Hansel &amp; Grettel, Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-178812" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Witch_0557.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Witch_0557-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Witch_0557-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Boyd&#8217;s adaptation of Hansel &amp; Grettel, first produced in 1997, was one of his earliest commissions and it has quite some pedigree. Theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh provided the keyboard on which the musical score was originally written, and original cast members included West End and Broadway director Laurence Connor and musical theatre star Rachel Tucker, now best-known for playing Elphaba in Wicked the musical. 



Boyd has refined the show over the years into its current incarnation: a pacy piece of theatre packed with drama, comedy and show-stopping musical numbers. As ever with the Creation Theatre, the staging is pared back and the set shifts easily between the children&#8217;s house/forest/witch&#8217;s cottage. The characters enter the action via a round opening at the back of the stage, which doubles (spoiler alert!) as the witch&#8217;s oven. The cast and chorus also make dramatic use of a balcony, where the witch makes a cackling first appearance, and flit amongst the audience too.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="705" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Dance_1868.jpg" alt="Hansel &amp; Grettel, Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-178805" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Dance_1868.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Dance_1868-800x564.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_Dance_1868-400x282.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



You&#8217;ll recognise some of the cast from previous Creation Theatre shows: the ever-entertaining Herb Cuanalo (Dr Frog/Francis Drake/Hertz) and Hayley Murray (Grettel) were both in <a href="https://bucksoxon.muddystilettos.co.uk/things-to-do/arts-culture-things-to-do/review-creation-theatres-treasure-island-oxford/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Treasure Island</a> in the summer. They&#8217;re joined by Connor Keetley (Hansel), who recently graduated from the ArtsEd drama school; Clare Rickard (Avis/Florence/Garry the Goblin), a West End veteran of Cats, Oliver! and more; and Christopher Finn, who plays feathered narrator Gregory Peck with the razzmatazz of a circus ringmaster. For the first time since the pandemic, the chorus is made up of children who attend the Creation Theatre&#8217;s theatre clubs or holiday drama workshops.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="667" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_witchGarry_1241.jpg" alt="Hansel &amp; Grettel, Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-178813" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_witchGarry_1241.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_witchGarry_1241-800x534.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_witchGarry_1241-400x267.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



All the cast are bewitchingly good &#8211; but for me, the scene-stealer was Jane Milligan, who makes a fabulously wicked witch. Closer inspection of the programme revealed this grand dame of theatreland (credits include Mamma Mia and Goodnight Mister Tom) is the daughter of comedian Spike Milligan, no less, and she brought his dark humour to her set-piece number preparing Hansel and Grettel for her midwinter feast. &#8220;It&#8217;s been very nice to meet you, but now it&#8217;s time to eat you!&#8221;. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="646" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BirdDance0944.jpg" alt="Hansel &amp; Grettel, Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-178803" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BirdDance0944.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BirdDance0944-800x517.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_BirdDance0944-400x258.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



You&#8217;ll know how this fairy story ends &#8211; but if you don&#8217;t, there&#8217;s no need to worry about the children having post-show nightmares. The cast are clearly having a ball during this rip-roaring take on the Grimms classic. By the time it wraps up in a musical medley that had the audience on their feet, things are, well, not so grim after all.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="746" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_GARRY-GOBLIN_21822.jpg" alt="Hansel &amp; Grettel, Creation Theatre" class="wp-image-178806" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_GARRY-GOBLIN_21822.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_GARRY-GOBLIN_21822-800x597.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/12/HANSEL_AND_GRETTEL_GARRY-GOBLIN_21822-400x298.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Good for:&nbsp;A great family Christmas outing. This production is billed as suitable for ages 5-105, so fill your boots and prepare to be enchanted. My young daughter loved it, and no nightmares reported (yet!). The night we went there were all ages in the audience &#8211; everyone from 20-somethings to grandparents, who gave the cast a standing ovation at the finale.



Not for:&nbsp;The under-5s. Faceless black-cloaked figures chanting in Latin might not be the most appropriate pre-school outing. Stick with Peppa Pig for a while longer.



<a href="https://www.thenorthwall.com/whats-on/hansel-grettel/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hansel &amp; Grettel</a> is at <a href="https://www.thenorthwall.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The North Wall Arts Centre</a>, South Parade, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7JN until Sat 4 Jan 2025. Tickets £13.50-£32.00. There are accessible performances on 14, 20 and 21 Dec and 3 Jan. <a href="https://creationtheatre.co.uk/show/hansel-and-grettel/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book here</a>.



Words: Harriet Dennys

Review: Hansel & Grettel, North Wall, Oxford

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