HANSEL AND GRETEL

ACT I
At Home
Hansel and Gretel play, quarrel, and reconcile in a dance. Their mother, Gertrude, enters and is angry to find them idle, rather than working. In her anger, she knocks over the pitcher of milk. A desperate Gertrude, knowing that there will be no supper for her family, sends the children out to pick strawberries in the forest.

An off-stage song announces the return of her husband Peter. He has been celebrating his success selling his brooms at the village market and has brought food home. When he asks after the children, Gertrude tells him that she has sent them to the forest. Peter tells her about the wicked witch who lives there, using sweetmeats to lure children to her lair, where she bakes them in her oven. Horrified, they rush out in search of their children.

ACT II
In the Forest
An orchestral prelude depicts the Witch's Ride. As the children search for strawberries, Gretel weaves a garland of flowers. Hansel crowns his sister with the garland, calling her "Queen of the Forest," as night falls. The pair soon realize that they have eaten all the strawberries and lost their way. The Sandman comes, throwing magic dust as they sing their evening prayer and 14 angels descend to protect them in their sleep.

INTERMISSION

ACT III
At the little gingerbread house
The Dewman awakens the children and they notice a little house made of sweets. Hungry, they begin to nibble at it, but as they do they hear a voice within. The Witch appears and casts a rope around the neck of the unsuspecting Hansel, putting him in a cage.

In order to fatten Hansel up for her recipe, the Witch prepares more food for him. Meanwhile Gretel obtains her magic wand, frees Hansel from his cage, and the two children push the Witch into the oven. They then break the spell which had imprisoned other children in a gingerbread fence encircling the house. Peter and Gertrude, searching for their children enter. As the oven explodes, the Witch, now a giant cookie is extracted and all cheer.