The classic fairytale, Hansel and Gretel brings to mind the wicked witch’s house of ginger bread and cakes. That was enough to ignite our imagination and wonder what it would be like to walk through a house of frosting and candy. Switzerland-based Trickster-p’s h.g. (Hansel and Gretel) will draw you into the experiential world of Hansel and Gretel. But the production is neither a children’s play nor a conventional theatre performance, where you will be sitting in an auditorium with an audience. h.g. (Hansel and Gretel) is a retelling of the fairytale in the form of a performance installation, in which one person at a time walks through nine different physical-sensory rooms, guided by earphones.
Created by Cristina Galbiati and Ilija Luginbühl, who co-founded Trickster-p, h.g. is presented by Think Arts, Kolkata and Sandbox Collective in association with Pro-Helvetia/Swiss Arts Council. It took the duo two years to create this production. “Our background is in physical theatre. But space has always been important to us. In h.g. we are doing a production without live performers,” says Cristina. She adds that h.g. emerged out of a need to create an experience rather than tell stories. “It is both a sensory and aesthetic experience. The fairytale is more a background. We transpose the atmosphere more than the facts of the story. Many people have called it ‘Theatre of the Mind’.”
Cristina says the experience will involve all the senses. “There is three dimensional sound, even though it’s recorded, you get a feeling it’s live. There are also smells.” The intent is to bridge the gap between the production and the audience, make it an intimate experience and put the audience the centre of the work. “They are the actor and director.” The nine rooms have been created to divide the fairytale into segments. “The rooms follow the narrative in the story. The first room, for example, is a kind of an introduction to give a person time to enter into the story.”
“The production has been translated in eight languages. Some of the audience responses we’ve got is the production touched them. They really felt a part of the production. Often people have recounted their childhood experiences.”
Speaking about what Cristina and Ilija have each brought to the production, Cristina says: “I have worked more on text, structure and sound and Ilija is more into spaces, he has created them physically.” h.g. will be held at Max Mueller Bhavan, Indiranagar, on January 8 and 11, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday at 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets, priced at Rs. 250, are available on www.bookmyshow.com. Walk-ins are not allowed, pre-booking is required, and age restriction is 12 years and above.
