Hansel and Gretel
Royal Opera House
London, England

Featured Canadian: Sarah Dufresne (Dew Fairy)

Text from the Royal Opera House website:

HANSEL AND GRETEL
Siblings Hansel and Gretel neglect their chores and decide to play games instead. Their mother returns and scolds them, accidentally breaking the jug of milk needed for dinner. She sends the children off to the forest to find strawberries. When their father returns home, he is concerned the children may be in danger from a witch who lives in the forest. The children play in the wood, but become lost. They fall asleep, watched over by the creatures of the forest.

The next morning, they discover a house made of cake: it is where the Witch lives! She tricks them inside and uses magic to trap Hansel. With Gretel’s help Hansel is freed and they in turn trick the Witch, who comes to a sticky end. As the Witch’s powers of enchantment are lifted, all the children trapped by the Witch are freed, and Hansel and Gretel are reunited with their parents.

Conducted by Mark Wigglesworth
CAST
HANSEL Anna Stéphany
GRETEL Anna Devin
PETER Darren Jeffery
GERTRUD Susan Bickley
WITCH Rosie Aldridge
SANDMAN Isabela Díaz
DEW FAIRY Sarah Dufresne
ECHOES Sarah Dufresne, Valentina Puskás, Veena Akama-Makia
ORCHESTRA
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House