Right at the beginning of panto season, Theatre Royal Stratford East present an exciting, modern take on the fairy tale classic Hansel & Gretel. The production promises to be full of spectacle, fun and boisterous entertainment.

Teenagers Hansel and Gretel live a comfortable life with their widowed father in the city, until father loses all of his money...again. This time however, father comes up with a foolproof plan for success (again) as a woodcutter.

The whole family, including Hansel and Gretel's new stepmother, move to the middle of nowhere into a cottage at the edge of a spooky forest. As if that wasn't bad enough, the forest is also home to the Wicked Wicked Witch who, with the help of the Wolf, lures Hansel and Gretel to her candy-clad cottage deep in the forest.

With their new friends Arabella, Yellow Bird and Monty Mole, Hansel and Gretel embark on one of the scariest and most exciting adventures of their lives, discovering a bit about themselves along the way.

Theatre Royal Stratford East welcomes back Marcus Powell in his second stint at the theatre as the pantomime dame, in the role of the stepmother. Powell has recently appeared in the West End transfer of The Harder They Come.

In the role of Hansel is Darren Hart. Hart played Buttons in Theatre Royal Stratford East's pantomime Cinderella, which was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre.