Review: HANSEL AND GRETEL, Shakespeare’s Globe

Two siblings are abandoned in the woods in the hope they’ll miraculously have a better life. As they attempt to find their way home, they almost end up being eaten alive - figuratively as well as literally. Written by Simon Armitage with Nick Bagnall in the director’s seat, the production is becoming a new festive tradition at the Globe. It’s a real treat.

Marketed for everyone aged five and up, it’s built on intricate layers of sophisticated storytelling. Yes, it’s a blithe retelling of one of the fairy tales collected by The Brothers Grimm presented in a package that will tickle all theatre lovers, but it’s also - surprisingly - a politically engaged play that brings grief, displacement, and conflict into the conversation. The kiddies will enjoy the outer coating, the adults will stop and think about the foundations.

This Hansel and Gretel is all fun and games until it isn’t anymore. A tongue-in-cheek sing-song opening by an “usher” (Jenni Maitland, acting as narrator throughout) leads the way into the playful sociopolitical commentary of a world that’s experiencing a humanitarian disaster. In a war-torn country, two parents truly believe that abandoning their children in the middle of nowhere is a better fate than living among bombs and bullets. Sounds familiar? There’s plenty of magic and enchantment for little ears, but Armitage is precise in his aim.

The poet laureate writes a personable, lyrical text full of charming twists and funny songs, making the perfect sweet alternative to all the classic pantos that are momentarily populating one stage in two. A bunch of peculiarities sprinkle a delectable project,which is  populated with language similar to what you’d encounter in a bedtime story but imbued with contemporary references. The witch is a mobster and her minions are spooky goblins, while a pack of foxes deal her sugar – the rarest good in their universe. It’s a riot, honestly, but darkness lies below the foiled sweets, Parma Violets, and Percy Pigs.

You wouldn’t expect such an investigation of the refugee crisis in a one-hour kids’ show at the Globe over Christmas. And yet, here we are. Everything really sinks in when Hansel (Ned Costello) and Gretel (Yasemin Özdemir) are asked for a sovereign in exchange for passage on a rickety swan floatie after escaping a cannibalistic, murderous old woman. Sure, all’s well that ends well; the family is reunited, but at what cost? Their house is rubble; they’re traumatised, briefly resent their mum (Beverly Rudd, also the witch), and their dad (Harry Hepple) is off fighting a war that probably won’t have a resolution.

More song and dance eases the bitter medicine, the children sing and play with the marshmallowy balloons and confetti descend on the pavement, but it’s difficult not to pause. On one hand, it’s a jolly ol’ time. While old-lady handbags filled with confectionery, massive sweets worn as hats, and catchy numbers (the one that goes “slurp slurp yummy yummy” is an absolute banger!) make it lively and enjoyable, it soars with its underlying network of political allusions, no matter how ironic and humorous their spin is.

Though we admit that venturing as far as saying that the witch looks like a mix of Margaret Thatcher and the old Queen might be just us being fastidious with our interpretative vein, the links are there to see and analyse. Yes, it’s a bit cheesy and adults playing children is always slightly jarring, but it’s also a prime example of how we can navigate world politics with your kids. Little Hansel and Gretel go through what thousands of families do in real life, so this is the chance to open up the conversation with our small humans.

Hansel and Gretel runs at Shakespeare's Globe until 5 January 2025.

Photo Credits: Ellie Kurttz