Southern Theatre and the Show-Me Celebration Company will present Hansel and Gretel’s Christmas Adventure in Taylor Auditorium on Dec. 7 and 8 with performances at 2:30 p.m.

The show, written by director Lyndall Burrow, the theater’s assistant technical director, is based loosely upon the Brothers Grimm fairytale. Inspired by his children, Burrow got the idea from Super Why!, a children’s show they were watching, which featured an episode based upon the classic fairytale.

“I thought, I haven’t done Hansel and Gretel in a while, and we could give them a Christmas adventure, and so that’s how I got started,” said Burrow.

When  Hansel hatches a plan to help his parents raise money for the Christmas season, he and his sister, Gretel, wind up lost in the forest. There they stumble upon a Christmas elf who is also lost. They eventually get kidnapped by minions of the witch.

“My goal for the show was to make kids laugh,” said Burrow, “to let kids have fun.”

The show will feature many recognizable characters from the Brothers Grimm story, as well as a few new characters. One of those new characters is an elf named Tinsel.

“I’m a Christmas elf … who is on a mission for Santa to pick up a gift and I get lost and meet up with Hansel and Gretel,” commented theater major Abby Railsback, who plays the role of Tinsel, a supporting character who helps get Hansel and Gretel into trouble.  

Tickets are available online at www.mssu.edu/ticket-office and cost $1 for adults and 50 cents for children 12 and under.