On Christmas Eve in 1938, two young children and their parents celebrate at home, blissfully unaware that a year later life will be very different indeed. After the outbreak of war, Harry and Gracie are evacuated to the countryside where they are taken in by a cruel foster mother. There are few comforts and little to remind them of home, except for a very special fairy tale book given to them by their parents for that last, perfect Christmas. Together, they follow Hansel and Gretel’s adventures into the unknown, and explore an exhilarating and terrifying new world.
Opera Anywhere’s spell-binding new production of Humperdinck’s masterpiece takes for inspiration one of the darker and less well-known stories of evacuee children in wartime Britain. The children escape from their grim new reality into their book, which is where the magic begins. With its new take on an enduring and heartening tale of triumph in adversity, this is production brings Humperdinck’s sumptuous, late-Romantic score to life in vivid technicolour. Expect an enchanting evening that the whole family will enjoy.
Sung in English.
Artistic Director: Vanessa Woodward
Producer: Mike Woodward
Production Director: Serenna Wagner
Musical Director: Nia Williams
Technical and Lighting Director: John Alcock
Woodwind: Nick Planas
