- Hansel and Gretel is now playing at the Sydney Opera House for a limited season.
- The production is dazzling, whimsical and deliciously dark.
- Margaret Plummer and Stacey Alleaume stun as the titular characters.
When I first saw Opera Australia’s promotional video for Hansel and Gretel, featuring the evil witch with hair in two prongs, licking her lips, and brandishing a knife and fork as two tiny children bolted away, I was intrigued.
The company stated that this production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s classic is “an enchanting first opera for newcomers”. It’s a familiar story to most of us: two hungry children lost in the forest, lured by the promise of a house made entirely of sweets.
Hansel and Gretel was written by Engelbert Humperdinck in Frankfurt between 1890 and 1893, making its debut in 1893 under the baton of Richard Strauss. Long celebrated as a Christmastime favourite, the darkly comic opera returns to the Sydney Opera House for a limited season, marking the first staging in over 20 years of Elijah Moshinsky’s acclaimed production.
The production sweeps you up in a dazzling, feverish dream. From the opening score, which transports you to the middle of the enchanted German forest (it’s upbeat but also unsettling), to Hansel and Gretel’s drowsy run-in with the golden, patchworked Sandman (Shikara Ringdahl).
The story begins with Hansel (Margaret Plummer) and Gretel (Stacey Alleaume) stuck at home, hungry, awaiting their Stepmother’s (Helen Sherman) return. When she arrives, she’s furious that they’ve done no work, threatening to beat them before sending them out to gather berries.
Father (Shane Lowrencev), meanwhile, stumbles into the stalls alongside the audience, singing a tipsy “ra-la-la-la” as he makes his way home. He surprises Stepmother with a bag brimming with treats for a feast: bacon, butter, flour, sausages, eggs, and to everyone’s delight, “stone the crow, it’s Vegemite!”
They quickly realise the danger Hansel and Gretel face, wandering alone through the forest where the dreaded Spittle Witches live. Father tells Stepmother how one evil witch lures children into her house before baking them into gingerbread and devouring them. They rush out of the house and into the dark forest to desperately search for the children.
The set is spectacular. The stage slants towards the audience as Hansel and Gretel forage for berries in what resembles a gigantic house: huge wooden floorboards dwarf Hansel and Gretel, oversized bannisters loom on stage left, and a massive clock face lights up behind the actors. The larger-than-life set captures the dark, uncanny magic of Grimm fairytales, while also evoking the whimsical, topsy-turvy world of Alice in Wonderland.
The production is full of clever visual references. The cage in which the witch traps Hansel is an oversized version of the birdcage seen in their kitchen at the opera’s opening. The witch’s house is the same birthday cake that we saw the children’s mum carrying in their Sandman-induced sleep.
The formidable soprano Jane Ede delivers the perfect witch: chillingly menacing yet darkly comedic, keeping the audience both on edge and amused. When she meets her demise, it’s hilarious, and the cheering chorus of children that takes over the stage is the perfect, upbeat ending to the long scene of the cannibalistic witch having her fun with Hansel and Gretel.
Margaret Plummer’s Hansel is brilliant, skulking about like a mischievous, greedy and whiny little boy. She is perfectly matched by Stacey Alleume, whose expressive physicality brings the sweet but plucky Gretel to life.
An opera for newbies
Conductor Tahu Matheson told Limelight Magazine that the “original tempo markings” of Hansel and Gretel are “very, very slow”. He decided that he’d be speeding things up, stating “after all, this is Sydney in the summertime: it’s get on, get off!”
This decision to speed up the show to two hour-long acts makes it a lot more digestible and friendly to the contemporary audience. Hansel and Gretel follow other Opera Australia productions that aim to please newcomers, proving that it isn’t a long, stuffy affair. Recent productions of Carmen and Turandot also followed this blueprint.
That’s not to say you can’t appreciate the cast’s stunning voices, the German folk melodies and the dramatic tensions woven through Humperdinck’s score. If anything, the brisk pacing makes the experience pack even more of a punch, leaving you with the sensation of awakening from a deliciously eerie dream as the curtain falls.
Hansel and Gretel at the Sydney Opera House
Where: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point, Sydney.
When: Playing until February 28, 2026.
Price: From $79 (plus a $9.80 booking fee).
