Stanley and Audrey Burton theatre, Leeds
Witty compositions and appealing performances win over a young audience but the traditionally grisly tale gets lost in the woods

Traditionally, Hansel and Gretel is a tale of tasty delight and grisly dread. Northern Ballet’s new version for young audiences chucks out the gingerbread cottage and the witch who has unsavoury plans for the siblings. Rather than fearing the forest, the duo learn to love and respect green spaces in a breezy, 40-minute eco-fable with as little jeopardy as the company’s sugar-spun version of Little Red Riding Hood a few years ago. But this peril-free, meandering story is often witty in its compositions (by Colin Scott) and choreography (by Harris Beattie and George Liang), both with a helping of music-hall tomfoolery. The show also has an attractive, economical patchwork design by Ali Allen that matches the environmental message and creates a collage of town and countryside.

This Hansel and Gretel live in an urban apartment with their father – there’s no stepmother in sight – and are glued to video games. Dad despairs of them so takes them for a walk in the woods: cue a relatable scene for parents in the audience as he bounds out into the fresh air, with the kids dragging their heels behind him. Andrew Tomlinson, dressed in a dandified business suit that matches the monochrome cityscape, stands with chest stretched and hands on hips like an adventurer surveying awe-inspiring terrain. Archie Sherman’s Hansel and Julie Nunès’s Gretel are a kerfuffle of huffs and shrugs, arms folded and lips pursed.