Originally from Newark in Nottinghamshire, Maya Thompson will play the feisty Gretel in Nottingham Playhouse’s Christmas show for younger children Hansel and Gretel.
Thompson performed at Nottingham Playhouse as a child and graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2020.
The more thoughtful Hansel is played by Megan Vaughan-Thomas, who also plays the house-proud Witchtastic. She trained for two years at Ēcole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and at Circomedia.
Director Beth Shouler said, “I'm delighted to be working with Maya and Megan who bring so much laughter, curiosity and warmth to the characters. Audiences are in for a real treat.”
The creative team were appointed after an open call-out for the director, writer and composer. All three are from the local area.
Adapting the original story is writer Monika Johnson. Composer is David Gibb. Designer is Samuel Fransch, a Nottingham Trent University graduate. Lighting designer is Laura Wolczyk and Raphael Achache is creative captions designer.
Specially created for children aged between three and eight, this new version of Hansel and Gretel will run in the Playhouse’s Neville Studio from Thursday 7 until Sunday 31 December. It will then go on a regional tour including schools during January 2024.