Regents Park Open Air Theatre, Tuesday 18 June 2019

Can Hansel and Gretel ever fail? I can’t recall a production I have not immediately warmed to and Timothy Sheader’s approach was certainly striking and always apt to the score. Set in the 1950s with a real sense of poverty from the start, the large revolving stage kept the action moving smoothly and allowed the unusually large cast to fill the spaces with ease. During the overture the cleaners came on stage, only for us to realise that they were actually witches and were leaving sweeties for the children. A succession of mothers sent their children off into the woods for food – always a dangerous undertaking even without the threat of child eating witches.

The young cast greatly aid the credibility of the story, and ENO were able to field two casts of which this was the second. Heather Lowe is a jovial Hansel, clearly emotionally close to his sister. Elizabeth Karani’s Gretel is obviously the older sibling but happy to rely on her brother’s protection where needed. The scenes in the wood were just scary enough to convince until the Sandman moved the whole narrative into the world of dreams. Angels are never easy today, but turning them into flight attendants – in keeping with Hansel’s toy plane – was a master stroke. Just tongue in cheek enough to avoid sentimentality but warmly supportive at the same time.

Gweneth Ann Rand’s strongly sung and characterised Mother was a fine foil to Ben McAteer’s jolly father. His sudden sobering up with the realisation of the danger his children were in was impressive. The reduced orchestration worked well and carried strongly with supportive amplification, as did the singers. This showed yet again that amplification does not need to blast the audience in order to be effective.

Unfortunately this was as far as I got. A technical fault at the start of the evening meant the performance was severely delayed and – with an 8.00pm due start – travelling home was going to be very risky if I stayed until the end. It is not clear why – when there were so many families in the audience, some of whom left at the interval because of the late running – the late start is necessary. It makes it very difficult for anyone living outside of the immediate capital to ensure they can get back.

This was a real shame for this was a fine performance which, hopefully, we might see again under other circumstances. ENO could easily add this on a more regular basis.