ANYONE who joined one of last week’s promenade performances of The Gingerbread House, Feral Productions’ first ‘show’ will never see Hereford in quite the same way again.

Feral’s co-founder and director of The Gingerbread House Estelle van Warmelo, has said she wants to get away from ‘black box theatre’, theatre in the restrictive confines of a conventional theatre, and with The Gingerbread House, the company has triumphantly proved what an exciting experience can be had by taking drama to places it’s not been before.

We assembled outside The Courtyard, put on our silent disco headphones and the drama began, as Hansel and Gretel’s lonely dad is seduced by the siren call of sex, and runs off into the night pursued by his children, and the audience followed.

The Garrick House car park was transformed into an urban wilderness with elaborately staged set pieces cleverly unravelling the dark truths of family life and the corrosive power of wealth as Hansel and Gretel sought an ‘illusive house of dreams’.

Imaginative, surreal and brilliantly executed, The Gingerbread House expanded the idea of what drama is and demonstrated how exciting theatre can be when the people behind it are committed to thinking outside the box.

Written and designed by Megan Barker with music by Mouth Master Murf of The Anomalies, sound and action, choreographed by Tamsin Fitzgerald of 2FaCeD Dance, were in perfect harmony, creating an experience unlike anything Hereford has seen before. More please.