The Gingerbread House
Hansel and Gretel follow their father’s footsteps through the Hereford streets as he desperately seeks the woman of his dreams at The Dream Factory, only to find the bitter truth when they finally arrive…
About the work
Feral’s inaugural production and the first of a “Feral Tales” trilogy. The Gingerbread House took hold of the Hansel and Gretel story and hauled it into the 21st Century, exploring how our everyday addictions (sugar, money, sex) hold us captive, dragging us towards destinations that are ultimately worthless.
Dozens of uniformed factory workers filled the portals with clockwork synchronicity while stony-faced stewards led the audience past familiar fairy tale figures appearing incongruously in unfamiliar locations.
Accompanied by skateboarders and free runners one by one, we visited each character’s dream, witnessing first hand the empty results of their long-sought aims.
The Gingerbread House was a promenade piece that pioneered the use of Silent Disco headsets for performance and signalled Feral as a company that would shake our relationship to place and tradition.
“Imaginative, surreal and brilliantly executed... The Gingerbread House expanded the idea of what drama is and demonstrated how exciting theatre can be when the people behind it are committed to thinking outside the box.”
How we made it
Working closely with students from the Royal College For The Blind, we developed a sound track that fully immersed the audience in a world with an altered sensory balance. The headsets freed us up to explore and manipulate auditory perception while the location of the multi-storey car park gave us a versatile playing area to project onto, open up, narrow down, invade and reimagine.
Performances
The Gingerbread House was performed at The Garrick car park, Hereford over a week in October 2009.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. Breathtaking, so imaginative.”
Credits
Writer – Megan Barker
Director – Estelle van Warmelo
Choreographer – Tamsin Fitzgerald
Music & Sound Design – Anthony Murphy
Film maker – Rachel Lambert
Witch – Nick Smithers
Father – Ian Hughes
Hansel – Joe Capella
Gretel – Chloe Rose Fisher
Woman – Jenny-May While
Production Manager – Alison Palmer
Stage Manager – Rachel Duthie