麻豆约拍

Act I
Hansel and Gretel are home alone, bored
and hungry. Their father Peter, a broom
maker, has tramped off to a nearby town to
sell his brooms. The family are desperately
poor and the children鈥檚 mother, Gertrud,
is in despair. For weeks the family have
been living on dry bread, and even that
has run out. The children are so hungry
that they play around instead of getting
on with their work, and a jug of cream
gets broken. Their exasperated mother
sends them off to the forest to gather
wild berries.

Meanwhile Peter has at last made some
money and comes back with bags of food.
He is horrified to hear his wife has sent
the kids into the forest, and tells her
of the terrifying witch who lives at its
heart.Mother and father rush off to
save their children.

Act II
It鈥檚 too late: the children are already
deep in the forest and thoroughly lost.
Fortunately the Sandman finds them
and soothes them to sleep. The children
say their prayers, fall asleep and are visited
by angels.

Act III
Morning is heralded by the Dew Fairy.
The children wake. Both of them remember
their angel dream and get up, ready for
anything, unaware that somebody is
waiting for them : the Witch.
Hansel and Gretel discover a biscuit
house, which they can鈥檛 resist. They nibble
at it, and are caught by the Witch. It
becomes all too obvious that she intends
to bake them into gingerbread biscuits.
However, H盲nsel and Gretel manage to
push the Witch into her own oven and to
release the biscuit-children she had already
trapped. H盲nsel and Gretel are found by
their parents , and everyone gives thanks.