State Opera South Australia's Hansel & Gretel finds dark magic in a familiar fairy tale

State Opera South Australia's production of Engelbert Humperdinck's Hansel & Gretel, directed by Constantine Costi with design by Jonathon Oxlade and conducted by Dane Lam, runs at Her Majesty's Theatre until 29 August 2026. The world-premiere Australian production balances the darker elements of the Brothers Grimm tale with visual spectacle and accomplished performances from countertenor Kangmin Justin Kim, soprano Sofia Troncoso and Catherine Carby.

Review by **[Markus Hamence](https://onyourmarkus.au/markus-hamence/)** – **State Opera South Australia's Hansel and Gretel**. Performance date: Thursday 27 August 2026. Her Majesty's Theatre, Adelaide, South Australia.

![Two performers portraying Hansel and Gretel hold hands on stage beneath stylised green forest silhouettes.](https://media.onyourmarkus.au/admin/2026/08/f1a7733a-240c-4333-849c-c1cc0a5dfa99.jpg)

*All Image Credits: Andrew Beveridge*

Artistic Director and Conductor **Dane Lam** doesn't put his name to anything that is not of the upmost quality. So when Dane steps on stage to introduce this opera offering, you know you are in for a real treat, and not just the sweet-tooth kind.

State Opera South Australia has taken one of the world’s most familiar fairy tales, wandered deep into the forest and returned with something **dark, delicious, visually spectacular and completely alive**. This new production of Engelbert Humperdinck’s *Hansel & Gretel* at Her Majesty’s Theatre proves there is considerably more lurking beneath this childhood story than breadcrumbs, witches and a house made of sweets.

Created as part of State Opera South Australia’s 50th anniversary season, the world-premiere production is directed by **Constantine Costi**, with set and costume design (there are a good few moments that visually blow you away) by **Jonathon Oxlade**, lighting by **Bernie Tan-Hayes** and **Dane Lam** conducting the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. It’s an ambitious new South Australian-made production that respects the Brothers Grimm foundations while refusing to become trapped inside the traditional storybook version we think we know.

At its heart, *Hansel & Gretel* remains a story about two children navigating a world considerably bigger, stranger and more dangerous than themselves. There’s poverty, hunger, fear and abandonment sitting beneath the fantasy, and Costi allows those darker elements to remain present without letting them overwhelm the wonder. That balance is important. This is magical, absolutely, but the magic has shadows.

And visually, those shadows are gorgeous.

**Jonathon Oxlade’s design is a knockout.** Rather than serving up a predictable chocolate-box forest, he creates a world that feels slightly distorted, oversized and dreamlike - somewhere between childhood imagination and a beautifully strange nightmare. The revolving staging allows locations and perspectives to shift almost cinematically, while the family home immediately establishes the hardship sitting beneath the fairy tale. Oxlade’s costumes are equally imaginative, pushing characters towards the fantastical without losing the humanity underneath them. Combined with Bernie Tan-Hayes’ lighting, the production can move from warm and whimsical to genuinely eerie in moments.

> “Dark, delicious and visually spectacular, *Hansel & Gretel* proves there’s still plenty of magic - and mischief - hiding deep within the forest.” Markus Hamence

Then there are our two lost children.

Internationally acclaimed countertenor **Kangmin Justin Kim**, making his Australian debut as Hansel, brings enormous personality to the role. His voice has warmth, agility and richness, but equally impressive is the physicality of his performance. This isn’t a Hansel standing politely waiting for the next aria - Kim throws himself into the character with a wonderfully youthful energy, creating a boy who is mischievous, impulsive and completely believable within this heightened world.

Alongside him, **Sofia Troncoso is a superb Gretel**. Returning to Adelaide after appearing as Pamina in State Opera’s *The Magic Flute*, Troncoso gives Gretel brightness, curiosity and determination, with a beautiful soprano that soars effortlessly across Humperdinck’s score. More importantly, Kim and Troncoso genuinely feel like siblings. They annoy each other, play together, rely upon one another and ultimately become a tiny team against a very big world. Their chemistry gives the production its heart.

![An older woman in a green cloak sits with a young child on a wooden chair in a darkly lit theatrical cottage setting.](https://media.onyourmarkus.au/admin/2026/08/2576aa23-51a4-4dd1-9fb4-7e0336229528.jpg)

**Catherine Carby** gets the wonderful challenge of playing both the Mother and the Witch, and she embraces the contrast brilliantly. As the Mother there is exhaustion, frustration and desperation - a woman struggling against circumstances rather than simply the villainous parental figure of a conventional fairy tale. Then comes the Witch, and Carby gets to unleash an entirely different energy. Funny, grotesque, theatrical and just dangerous enough, it’s a performance that understands exactly how much fun can be found on the darker side of a fairy tale.

**Morgan Pearse as Peter, the Father**, brings warmth and humanity to the family dynamic, while emerging South Australian soprano **Lucy Stoddart** makes a beautiful impression in the dual roles of the Sandman and Dew Fairy. Her appearances bring a softer kind of magic to the production, with lovely vocal clarity and a sense that we’ve momentarily stepped completely away from reality and into the dream.

And then there is Humperdinck’s music.

Under **Dane Lam**, the **Adelaide Symphony Orchestra** sounds magnificent. The score is lush, romantic and far grander than you might expect if your only knowledge of *Hansel and Gretel* comes from the fairy tale. There are moments of enormous orchestral sweep sitting alongside delicate passages of innocence