Hansel & Gretel gets off to a cracking pace, and keeps it up for most of the performance. It’s aimed at children and families, and it confidently throws a rake of characters at the young audience in the manner of children’s television or a cartoon. The songs are accompanied with catchy choreography that wouldn’t feel out of place on TikTok. The costumes have incredible detailing, drawing us into the brown bookish world that has been built on the Lyric Theatre stage. And the dialogue has enough cheeky nods to knowing adults to give the older folk sitting in the stalls something to giggle at while the younger eyes feast on what is before them.
Tara Lynne O’Neill has built a wider drama around Grimm’s story. Friendless Monty is being bullied at school. While hiding from Bugs, Slugger and Split he is transported into the world of the central fairy tale. In this version, the Woodcutter remains true to his children and it’s an evil aunt and uncle who place the twins at risk. A mousey Monty persistently highlights dangers and creates avenue of rescue as the pages are turned and they head towards the sugar-rich house. Along the way we meet talking trees, a brilliant Beaver Scout leader, a bookworm, and many, many, more. Monty must piece together the advice he’s given and learn to look at problems and tackle them from a different perspective.
The language is rich and triggers the imagination. We can play along with the evil aunt (Christina Nelson) as she struggles not to make everything she says rhyme. We can wonder at the diverse musical styles that Katie Richardson has conjured up. Bertie Jones’
Turn It Upside Down is a favourite, performed with distinction and panache by Mark Dugdale who gets the best rail of Gillian Lennox-designed costumes in the show. The twins (Catriona McFeely and Odhrán McNulty) unfussily harmonise with Monty (Conor Quinn) while Orla Gormley cooks up a storm as the sickly saccharine hostess they meet in the woods. They’ve been well drilled in their dance moves by Paula O’Reilly.
Shaving five minutes off each act might help the concentration of the youngest audience members, but with a production that needs to cater for wains and owl bucks, a perfect duration is impossible to achieve.
There’s an astonishing richness across the elements of design. Books drop in over Stuart Marshall’s set to form a literary roof. Gretel’s Glaswegian twang when she’s fooling around with Hansel is but one of the gorgeous regional accents that flavour the dialogue. Mary Tumelty makes children’s heads turn with a mesmerising constellation of light over the audience during
Look Up To The Stars. Richardson allows percussive melodies to play in the background of scenes. All the while, director Patrick J O’Reilly steers the characters’ movements and gestures and pulls the different departments together to create a thoroughly modern telling of an old tale. It’s great to see an ambitious Christmas show that delivers a spectacle. Children deserve excellence.
Hansel & Gretel continues at the Lyric Theatre until Saturday 6 January.
Photo credit: Carrie Davenport
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