Hansel and Gretel, Cottesloe, National Theatre
Cottesloe, National Theatre: This quirky, witty, intelligent take on one of the darkest of Grimm's Tales has mobile trees, a Russian talking oven, lots of quite sinister puppeted animals, plenty of Brechtian exaggeration and more chases back and forth across the stage than the Keystone Cops. The Cottesloe is congfigured in retro mode and the playing area designed (Vicki Mortimer) as a big proscenium with treble …