Hansel and Gretel Scenario

Hansel and Gretel’s mother is trying to prepare a meal with the last scraps of the vegetables. She orders her children to help, but they would rather play and, exhausted, she falls asleep.

Whilst she sleeps the children unwittingly knock the cooking pot from the rough stove. Mother wakes with a start and is very angry with them. Having nothing left to eat she orders them to go into the forest to search for berries. The children are afraid to go in case they become lost, but Hansel has an idea and he steals the last loaf of bread from the table to make a trail of breadcrumbs so that they can find their way home.

Father returns with friends from market and asks where the children are. When mother explains that she has sent them into the forest to seek food Father is furious, and he and his woodmen friends go to search for Hansel and Gretel before nightfall.

Gretel is happily picking berries to take home and Hansel is busy laying his trail of crumbs. As the pair wander deep into the forest the woodland birds peck up all the crumbs and the children become lost. Darkness falls and they rest on a grassy bank saying their prayers and asking for protection. Beautiful angels appear from heaven to watch over the children as the twinkling stars come out.

Whilst they are asleep an old woman is prowling in the forest with her accomplice and bats. As dawn breaks the beautiful dew fairy gently wakes the children as gentle morning mist swirls around them.

The old woman reappears. She stumbles, dropping sweets and gingerbread from her basket. Hansel and Gretel run to help her. The old woman is, in fact a wicked witch who tries to tempt children to visit her gingerbread house. Once captured, she turns these children into gingerbread. She opens the door and lures the pair inside, shows them the delicious sweets and cunningly entertains them with a dance by the gingerbread children. The wicked witch then throws a net over Hansel and pushes him into a cage, feeding him scraps to fatten him up. Gretel becomes frightened and tricks the witch by pretending that she cannot open the oven door. Gretel finally manages to push the witch into the oven and rushes to free Hansel.

The witch’s spell is broken - Hansel and Gretel escape with the village children who rush from the gingerbread house and dance. Hearing the laughter Hansel and Gretel’s father runs into the clearing with the parents of the other children and families are reunited. A celebration takes place and they pull a giant gingerbread biscuit from the oven who looks remarkably like the wicked witch.