22/08/2026
REVIEW
State Opera South Australia
Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide
Friday, 21 August, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The State Opera of SA’s 2026 continues its Golden Jubilee season, expanding the theme of fairytale productions. Cinderella kicked off the year in May and now we are presented with Engelbert Humperdinck’s interpretation of the brothers Grimm fable of Hansel and Gretel. The libretto is supplied by the composer’s sister, Adelheid Wette, wanting to amuse and entertain her own children back in the early 1890s.
The publicity promises that it is ‘funny throughout’ and that it has a ‘happy ending’, like all good fairytales. This reviewer was interested in putting these claims to the test.
With Jonathon Oxlade’s set, we are greeted with the dark ambience of benign stylised Christmas trees on a revolve. However, beyond the trees, deeper into the forest, danger, in the guise of an evil witch, lurks. Hansel, Gretel, the mother and the father are extremely poor, and Oxlade’s creates costumes for them which are suitably impoverished, brown and sack-like, almost shapeless, with minimal flair.
Director Constantine Costi’s production is competent and serviceable, with a paucity of fairytale magic in evidence. Admittedly, in our current age, fairytales do not seem very pertinent. And we are often told that opera is irrelevant to today’s society. As soon as our story begins, the hunger of the children is conspicuous. Perhaps more could have been made of this aspect of the libretto - after all, we are constantly informed that ‘working families’ are having trouble putting food on the table….
Musically the production is hard to fault. As the children, Kangmin Justin Kim and Sofia Troncoso act convincingly and sing beautifully, the blend of their voices in the long first act duet, their evening prayer in the woods and their triumphant finale of disposing of the wicked witch, is exceptional. Kim’s countertenor voice is a refreshing change on stage as the role is traditionally sung by a mezzo-soprano.
As the father, Peter, Morgan Pearse’s stentorian voice fills the theatre with commanding beauty, and his drunken antics are portrayed realistically. In the final scene, his genuine affection for his children is rendered touchingly.
In the dual role as mother, Gertrude, and witch, Catherine Carby is menacingly marvellous with strong delineation between the two women, subtly executed because the mother can be harsh and nasty too! It is as the witch, in white face and shocking orange wig, that she really excels, vocally and comically, providing the very few much needed third act laughs of this production.
Lucy Stoddart also doubles in cameo roles, as the Sandman and the Dew Fairy. Hers is a pleasantly musical voice and will no doubt grow as she furthers her operatic career. She dons, by far, the most spectacular costume of the night. Her mock Elizabethan outfit as the Dew Fairy, is worth a gander and a gasp!
One never tires of listening to, and marvelling at, our wonderful Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, dynamically directed by Dane Lam. The musical rendering of this unique score, with its complex Wagnerian sonorities and its whimsical lyricism, is truly wondrous.
Yes, there is a happy ending, so here the production delivers. Magically, except for a few moments (the appearance of the kitchen set is such a moment as well as Bernie Tan-Hayes’s lighting of the trees in the forest plus the appearance and utilisation of the Children’s Chorus lanterns), the show does not live up to the mark and on the comic front it falls well short. Production-wise, it is somewhat tepid and underwhelming, I’m afraid.
© Eugene Ragghianti - All About Entertainment Reviewer
Tickets: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/Shows/Show.aspx?sh=HANSELGR26
