On Saturday I watched a performance of 'Hansel and Gretel' at a theatre called The Tobacco Factory which is just down the road from my house. Last year we saw an excellent alternative version of Cinderella put on by The Travelling Light Company which was probably best and most original pieces of theatre I have ever watched so we were excited to see what The Tobacco Factory had to offer us this year.
Like 'Cinderella', The company of New International Encounter used a small cast of just 5 who were all amazingly multi talented and were each able to play a range of instruments (such as a huge double bass - shown in my illustration above) as well as singing, story telling and acting!
The play was humorous and charming and the style of performance worked particularly well in the small, intimate theatre space. My favourite part was when Hansel and Gretel first saw the Gingerbread house in the distance - a tiny dolls house version of the gingerbread house floated through the audience, complete with a tiny smoking chimney. Another highlight was the performance of The Wicked Witch who was hilarious and had some great lines which had both the adults and children laughing.
It's refreshing to see different approaches and styles of theatre, and as much as I love big west end musicals, there is something special about minimal, intimate productions like this one where you can really appreciate the craft of the actors and each element of the production and performance.
Above is an illustration I did based on photo that was on the front of the programme.
