Asheville musical retells Hansel and Gretel in 1940s Appalachia
Be Young. A Theatre Collective retold Hansel and Gretel in 1940s Appalachia at North Carolina Stage Company, with tickets from $12 to $22.
Hansel and Gretel stepped into 1940s Appalachia at North Carolina Stage Company, where Be Young. A Theatre Collective staged its first production as a world-premiere adaptation on June 12 and June 13 at 15 Stage Lane in Asheville. The fairy tale was recast through the hardships of the Great Depression, with a live score built around banjo, guitar, spoons and vocal harmonies that gave the familiar story a distinctly mountain sound.
Written by Ben Mackel and directed by Andrew Livingston, the production featured five actor-musicians: Will Hartz, Dax Dupuy, Ben Mackel, Glenna Grant and Betsy Bisson. Explore Asheville listed adult tickets at $22 and youth tickets at $12, with discounts available. Be Young described itself as a new, homegrown independent performing arts group based in Western North Carolina, with a mission to create professional, high-quality, original works that invite audiences of every age to rediscover what it means to Be Young.
The setting mattered as much as the script. By placing the Grimm story in 1940 Appalachia, the production tied the children’s struggle to regional memory, where family survival, trust, loss and love carried the weight of daily life. The use of banjo, guitar and spoons anchored the piece in Appalachian tradition, making the show feel less like a borrowed fairy tale and more like a story shaped by the landscape and history of Western North Carolina.
That local emphasis fit a downtown theater space with a wide production range. North Carolina Stage Company has hosted recent mainstage titles including The Shark Is Broken, The Lehman Trilogy, Jeeves Saves the Day and All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914, placing the Appalachian retelling inside a venue that regularly moves between classics, contemporary work and newer offerings. Around the city, Asheville Theater Alliance says it works to unite, elevate and amplify the performing arts community in Western North Carolina, while Asheville Creative Arts says it provides professional theatre and performance experiences for audiences of all ages and creates opportunities for meaningful employment for Asheville residents. In that broader network, a small world premiere carried a larger message: Asheville’s stage scene still has room for original work rooted in place.
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