Hänsel und Gretel
Conceived and Directed by Blake Montgomery
The Building Stage, 412 N. Carpenter (map)
thru April 22 | tickets: $12-$22 | more info
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A classic fairytale undergoes modern adaption
The Building Stage presents
Hänsel und Gretel
Review by J.H. Palmer
As I entered The Building Stage Theater, Hänsel (Pamela Maurer) approached me and asked: “Do you want a cookie? It came from my pocket.” Her wig had a cowlick a-la Alfalfa from Our Gang, freckles painted on her face, and wore aquamarine lederhosen. “Pocket cookies are my favorite,” I said. “It’s broken, here’s the other half,” she said. The entire cast, it seemed, was interacting with the audience in this manner: offering cookies and milk as the audience filed in, and ad-libbing in character. I’ve come to expect this kind of intro to Building Stage productions, having experienced the last production: Charles Dickens Begrudgingly Performs “A Christmas Carol.” …Again, where Blake Montgomery greeted audience members as they entered the theater, offering tea and biscuits. It’s a clever way of bringing the audience to suspend their disbelief before the play even begins.
The story of Hansel and Gretel, as we have come to understand it, comes principally from two sources: the Brothers Grimm story from 1812, and the Engelbert Humperdinck opera from 1893. There are major differences between these two, and the Building Stage has taken this on in a clever manner. Several times during the play one character or another says “No, that’s not how the story goes,” or “I didn’t think the witch was real, I thought I made up that part,” before moving on to the next possible outcome. But this isn’t simply a fusion of the two most well-known versions of the fairytale; the dialog has been updated to include strange, funny, seemingly incongruous snippets. In the scene where Hänsel (Pamela Maurer) and Gretel (Chelsea Keenan) have been left in the forest to fend for themselves, they begin to one-up each other in their descriptions of hunger: “I’m so hungry I could eat a whole box of cereal in the box,” “I’m so hungry I could eat Christopher Columbus,” “I’m so hungry I could eat the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria,” “I’m so hungry I could eat the Renaissance,” “I’m so hungry I could eat the entire Renaissance Movement.” When they discuss how they could possibly find their way back home we hear phrases like: “We need an expert in aerial reconnaissance.” This verbal sleight-of-hand, of replacing old text with new, is a continuous thread that moves throughout the piece and is a delight to hear coming from the mouths of characters that the audience feels they’ve known their whole lives.
There’s no dialect coach credited on the playbill for this production, and I’m no expert on German accents, but it seemed (to my ear at least) that the actors had invested in delivering their lines in convincing accents: not too forced, but present and sustained throughout the performance. It’s a theatrical detail I always appreciate; there’s nothing more grating to my ear than an inauthentic accent, and if given the choice between a bad accent and the specific regional accent of the actors themselves, I’ll always pick the latter.
In keeping with the fairytale theme the cast brings a sense of wonder and levity to their performance, punctuated by moments that remind us how dark this story really is: the witch describes in detail how she plans to slaughter and cook Hänsel, and when she gets her comeuppance, it is done in slow motion — she scratches on the doors of the oven that Gretel leans against with her entire bodyweight. It’s a disquieting image, to say the least.
Ian Knox’s bald, bearded, and beer-bellied interpretation of the Father doubles as the narrator of the story, bringing the audience up to speed when needed. Jenny Lamb plays the parts of both the Stepmother and the Witch, bringing distinct energies to the two roles, making me wonder about the sinister role most grown women have in fairy tales, and what that must mean (I’m sure there’s a word for it in German.) Pamela Maurer’s Hänsel and Chelsea Keenan’s Gretel are alternately naïve and resourceful where the situation calls for it.
Matthew Muñiz’ piano accompaniment is central to this piece, as is Blake Montgomery’s scenic design: the stage is set in the center of the room, with audience seating flanking it on either side. Part of the appeal of this production is being able to watch audience members seated on the opposite side of the stage react; normally this is a sightline visible only to the actors onstage, and it brings the audience into the story in a way that wouldn’t be possible with traditional staging.
This is the second play I’ve seen at TBS that ran without an intermission, and I think they’re on to something: if there’s no break in the play, the reverie of the audience never gets broken. This rendition of the well-known fairy tale is made new in this talented theater company’s hands.
Rating: ★★★
Hänsel und Gretel continues through April 22nd at The Building Stage, 412 N. Carpenter (map), with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 4pm. Tickets are $12-$22, and are available by phone (312-491-1369) or online at BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at BuildingStage.com. (Running time: 90-minutes without intermission)
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