Hansel and Gretel workshop fun...

It's been really great start to 2013 for all of us here at NIE as our run at the lovely Tobacco Factory in Bristol has continued with some very enthusiastic audiences (including one small child who felt the need to reassure Gretel that 'she did the right thing' in pushing the witch into the oven on Saturdays matinee show!). After the matinee show on Saturday Carrie, the TF+ Officer at the Tobacco Factory, and Sarah, NIE's Assistant Producer, led a workshop for 17 children who had just watched the show, along with their parents. The kids were allowed to get to know the puppet versions of Hansel and Gretel, as well as play with the potty which is used as an instrument in the show. They were then challenged to learn how to say 'Once upon a time, a long long time ago', in Norwegian and impressed everyone present with how quickly they picked it up! A game of grandmother's footsteps involving the all important pebbles used by Hansel in the show was enthusiastically received, and followed by a very informative technical lesson by Elke, our technical stage manager. Elke showed the group the way that the little house produces real smoke from it's chimney, and also how it is gently lowered down on ropes hidden in the ceiling. The group also learnt how we magically make it snow at the end, which I'm not going to give away here...

The workshop was finished off with adults and children alike being shown the back stage of the theatre where the performers prepare for the show each day. Thank-you very much to all who took part, it was lovely to have so many people interested in seeing how the show really came to life! SC