Opening night & the first set of reviews are in for Hansel & Gretel!!

Yesterday marked another big milestone for us – opening night for Hansel and Gretel in Cambridge. Setting the stage, the theatre foyer was transformed into a winter wonderland complete with fake snow, pine cones and real gingerbread (this is Hansel and Gretel after all!) meanwhile the scent of mulled wine filled the air teasing guests, press and audience goers who had assembled for the show ...

This morning we woke to the first set of reviews for the show. Here are some of our favourite quotes...

“With its European folk songs, physical inventiveness and clever use of puppetry... this is far from being a traditional panto”
Andrew Aldridge, The Stage

“This is one magical journey worth making in all weathers and will warm the heart on even the coldest December night”
Glen Pearce, ***** Public Reviews

"A deeply funny fairytale, tinged with pathos... the perfect embodiment of less is more"
Eleanor Turney, A Younger Theatre.

“A magical show which ventures deep into the traditions of storytelling, Hansel and Gretel is a delight for all ages and an intelligent alternative to the gaudy glitz which can often obscure the humble wonders of Christmas”
Jennifer Shelton, Cambridge News

Guardian theatre tips - Hansel & Gretel

We were really pleased to be mention in Lyn Gardner's tips for The Guardian on shows to see in the week coming up, and an image from the show for Hansel & Gretel:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage

Can't wait until we open on Wednesday 7th in Cambridge!

Final rehearsals for Hansel & Gretel (UK)

We did a run through of the show today - its shaping up to be a great show, but still needs a bit of editing to make it around 60 minutes running time. A few shots below from the run through:

Hansel & Gretel with their Father (and Stepmother)

Hansel collecting pebbles to find their way home

Explaining the plan to Gretel....

Finding their way back home

In the Witch's House

Hansel being fattened up to be eaten!

Design meeting for Hansel & Gretel

Today we had a design meeting with Steffi who is designing the set and costumes for the show.

We also had a look at the next version of the puppets of Hansel and Gretel that we will be using for some parts of the show and I think they look really good.

Steffi had made a small set model working on our ideas about trees and branches in a forest. We also talked about some ways of using projections as part of the set.

Things are really moving on now, we also talked a lot about costumes and how the design will be used to tell the story....

More soon - the show is getting closer and closer, and tickets are selling fast!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad by Alex Byrne

Location:Cambridge

Hansel & Gretel: set design

Alex met with Steffi today (our set designer and one of the performers in Hansel & Gretel performing this Christmas at The Junction) to talk in detail about ideas for the set design. We will transform the theatre into a forest so we are currently talking to local tree surgeons about using bits of cut-off branches in our set. Steffi has also been working on some beautiful puppets which we use in the show:

Here they are in our office at The Junction, Cambridge with a head still to be added to little Hansel!

Hansel and Gretel in London

We had a workshop this week in London with Alex, Carly Davis and a bunch of great performers at St Mary's University College London. We have four confirmed cast members for Hansel and Gretel (the family Christmas show at The Junction, Cambridge this year), but are looking to find a fifth performer.We explored some of the songs from the show and played some improvisation games together.

Say cheese!

Last week we had a great time in the UK doing a photoshoot in Cambridge with two actors from the Christmas show we are co-producing with The Junction theatre.

We borrowed loads of different costumes from Classworks Theatre Hire, and Rew and Steffi (who is also the set designer for the show) spent a morning dressing up and playing about with them to get different shots to promote the show.

Photographer: Christa Holka