Summary

When Hansel arrives, it upsets the balance of Gretel’s life completely. Her little brother has turned everything upside down. When their parents abandon them in the forest and they end up at the witch’s house, she is very tempted to push him into the oven with their jailer and get rid of him forever…

By what tortuous route does one become a big sister?

6 to 10 years old

60 minutes

300 spectators

Creative team

Text
Suzanne Lebeau

Translation
John Van Burek

Directed by
Gervais Gaudreault

Assistant director
Milena Buziak

Première cast

In French-language
Catherine Dajczman and Jean-Philip Debien

In English, and Spanish
Émilie Lévesque and Jean-Philip Debien

Also in the French-language cast
Émilie Lévesque

Set design and props
Stéphane Longpré

Costumes and props
Linda Brunelle

Lighting design
Dominique Gagnon

Music and sound environment
Diane Labrosse

Make up and hair
Pierre Lafontaine

Production manager
Dominique Gagnon

Dressmaking costumes
Anne Rémillard

Assistant costumes
Chantal Bachand

Knitting
Françoise Bruand

Sound manager
Emmanuel Cognée or Nicolas Fortin

Lighting manager
David Perreault-Ninacs, Nicolas Fortin or Dominique Gagnon

In residency at Théâtre de la Ville (Longueuil) and Maison Théâtre (Montréal), in co-production with Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne, Muni-Spec Mont-Laurier and Le Théâtre, Scène nationale de Narbonne. With assistance from the Aide à la création program of the Centre national du Théâtre (France).

Photos in show : François-Xavier Gaudreault and Leif Norman

Press clipping

“Gretel et Hansel proves to be a play with a strong script, with active narration that is very similar to the world of the tale and with stripped-down, evocative visuals, speaking directly to children about the disturbing (but profound and tender) reality that being brother and sister can provoke.”

David Lefebvre, montheatre.qc.ca

“The play of the two actors and, especially the direction of Gervais Gaudreault are striking for their simplicity. Without artifice, using a few wooden chairs placed on the stage, Gaudreault clearly brings forth, one by one, the many environments within which the two children’s saga takes shape.”

Michel Bélair, Le Devoir

“By making something new out of an old archetype, Suzanne Lebeau brings audiences to experience unexpected emotions and has surpassed herself in her writing, which is still just as precise and colourful, full of plot twists and games, and appealing to the intelligence of her young audience. The work of a pro.”

Josée Lapointe, La Presse

Production history

Premiered on October 24, 2013 by le Carrousel theatre company at la Maison Théâtre (Montreal), in residence at Théâtre de la Ville (Longueuil) and la Maison Théâtre (Montreal), in co-production with Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne, Muni-Spec Mont-Laurier (Quebec) and Théâtre, Scène nationale de Narbonne (France), with assistance from the Aide à la création program of the Centre national du Théâtre (France).

Premiered in English on November 17, 2016 at CINARS in Montreal, in Spanish on March 16, 2017 at Teatralia Festival in Madrid, Spain, and in Japanese on August 18, 2018, in co-productionwith the Kanagawa Arts Theatre, Japan.

Premios Atina 2018, award for best foreign play presented in Argentina

2013-2014 Season : 71 performances – One international festival
In Quebec :	Maison Théâtre, Montréal.
In France :	Mulhouse; Saint-Louis; Les Herbiers; Nanterre; Dijon – Festival À pas contés; Narbonne; Gradignan; Wasquehal; Évian-les-Bains.
In Ontario :	Ottawa

2014-2015 Season : 88 performances – One international festival
In Quebec :	Longueuil; Lennoxville; Montréal; Rouyn-Noranda; Laval; Beloeil; L’Assomption; Québec.

In France :	Angoulême; Draguignan – Festival Amarelles; Quimper; Pont-Scorff; Chevilly-Larue; Schiltigheim; Haguenau; Angers; La Roche-sur-Yon; Niort.

2015-2016 Season : 53 représentations – One international festival
In Quebec :	Gatineau, Mont-Laurier, Alma, Trois-Rivières, Shawinigan, Terrebonne, Jonquière, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Montréal dans les Maisons de la culture Ahuntsic, Frontenac, Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie et les Arrondissements de Montréal-Nord, Lachine, Saint-Léonard et Outremont.
In France :	La Rochelle, Mayenne, Carcassonne, Fos-sur-Mer, Albi, Béziers.
In Belgium :	Festival Turbulences, Namur.

2016-2017 Season : 32 performances – Two international festivals
In Quebec :	CINARS, Montréal.
In Canada :	Winnipeg, Manitoba.
In France :	Villefranche-sur-Saône.
In Belgium :	Mons.
In Spain :	Festival Teatralia : Madrid, Móstoles.
In South Africa :	Cradle of creativity, 19^e Congrès mondial d’ASSITEJ, Le Cap.

2017-2018 Season : 29 performances – Five international festivals
In Spain :	Saragosse – Festival ZGZ Escena.
In Brasil :	São Paulo – Festival Internacional Paidéia de Teatro para a Infância e Juventude, Araraquara, Rio de Janeiro – Festival Internacional Intercâmbio de Linguagens.
In Argentina :	Buenos Aires – Soy Festival! à Tecnópolis.

In United Kingdom :	Édimbourg – Edinburgh International Children’s Festival (Imaginate).
In Japan :	Yokohama.