Humperdinck’s magical fairy-tale – in a new retelling by Marginalia

Nothing is right at home: the pressure just to get by is mounting every day and Daddy isn’t around anymore to help. Worse than that, Mummy now hates music and has forgotten how to sing, even though the whole family used to love it so much.

When Hansel and Gretel are banished to the woods, they get to sing to their hearts’ content and are ready for any adventure that might come their way. But in this enchanted forest, nothing is as it seems. Something dark lurks there: a wicked witch who craves to possess their lovely voices… With only their ingenuity to protect them, how will the pair escape her clutches? As they travel through a magical woodland world of flickers and echoes, Hansel and Gretel find that if you hang onto hope, even the darkest moments can be overcome.

Marginalia presents a brand-new interpretation of a nineteenth-century classic: Humperdinck’s opera is part charming children’s songs and part Wagnerian drama. Singing in a new English translation, Marginalia weave original fairy-tale narration into the composer’s colourful musical fabric. This sparkling and high-energy production is perfect for children and adults alike, opera novices and experts: entertaining, innovative, and thought-provoking.

Hansel – Chloë Allison
Gretel – Anna-Luise Wagner
Narrator/Mother/Witch – Evie Florence
Director – Eleanor Burke
Pianist – Luke Fitzgerald

Extracts from Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel in a new English version by Chloë Allison, with original narration by Chloë Allison and Rebecca Hare.

Performance as part of the Folkestone Living Advent Calendar.