Curio Theatre Company presents Hansel & Gretel, adapted by Paul Kuhn

I looked forward to attending Hansel & Gretel with two eight-year-olds, and they ended up not being able to join me. It was too bad, because they would have liked it. Everyone can participate in the way, and to the degree, that they choose. Ticketholders are invited to decorate paper hats upon arriving and checking in. Then three actors in chef’s whites with confectionery embellishments emerge to welcome us to the candy factory.

Introducing themselves as Toaster “T.” Strudel (Aetna Gallagher), Marzipan (Maddy Gillespie), and Apfelkuchen (Christopher Castagna), they seek our help with creative tasks. At my performance, Marzipan led a group interested in creating sound and music. Apfelkuchen’s people liked drawing, wearing costumes, and performing. T. Strudel’s group controlled things happening onstage, like scenery and effects.

Gallagher, Gillespie, and Castagna worked well with the children, providing clear directions and encouraging prompts while staying in character. They had distinct candy-factory worker personas before effortlessly stepping into the roles of the narrator, Hansel, and Gretel. There were about 20 minutes of making before the performance began. More families arrived and joined in as things were underway, and the Curio team expertly included everyone with ease.

Letting kids express themselves

The performance delivers surprises and fun, from Mad Libs dialogue to goofy sound effects. Gallagher’s costumes evoke art and characters from children’s books. Flood’s direction keeps things moving despite the unpredictability that comes from working with children. Hansel & Gretel offers many clever ways to involve little ones in art and theater-making, and it is respectful of their wants and needs. Lots happened at once, in the manner of the playground at recess, and it was over within the hour. The show even provides gentle instruction in listening and being present. But it does not ask anyone to be quiet or sit still.

This Curio series is a terrific way to introduce kids to live theater. American children urgently need access to the arts, as public schools provide far less arts education than they used to. Theater and other arts provide kids with constructive, healthy modes of expression, communication, and connection as they develop skills in cooperation, communication, self-awareness, and empathy. And the future requires new generations of artists to create the entertainment of the future.

An intergenerational creation

The third installment of Curio’s Make & Partake Theatre Experience series at the company’s West Philly venue, Hansel & Gretel was preceded by Jack and the Beanstalk and The Three Little Pigs. Instead of a traditional play, the series offers a true experience to kids and their caregivers, one that brings them into the creative process. At Hansel & Gretel, Curio’s strengths and the kids’ wild-card ideas and energy combined into an alchemical magic of intergenerational improvisation.