Sierra Madre Playhouse to Present SUGAR HORSES a Reimagined Hansel and Gretel

The Sierra Madre Playhouse will host Sugar Houses, an immersive, movement-driven reinterpretation of the Hansel and Gretel fairytale, on Saturday and Sunday, June 28 and 29, 2025, at 7:30 PM. The performance is created by Rosanna Gamson/World Wide (RGWW) and blends contemporary dance, theater, and music to deliver a visceral and haunting experience.

Originally premiering at REDCAT in 2021, Sugar Houses uses minimalistic staging by production designer Tony Shayne, with live chalk-drawing and hand-held lighting to build the world in real time around the performers. The piece explores themes of abandonment, survival, sibling bonds, and moral ambiguity.

The production features a multidisciplinary cast including Chris Louis (Father), Clementine Gamson Levy (Mother), Kayla Johnson (Gretel), Brance William Souza (Hansel), Dave X (Bird), and Mallory Fabian (Witch). Linguist Brian Evenson collaborated with the company to develop a constructed language blending German, Yiddish, Turkish, and other tongues. Mona Heinze served as dramaturg.

Rosanna Gamson describes the show as a testament to the transformative power of performance: “It's up to the performers to be able to do anything, and to make the world out of nothing in the service of the work.”

Sugar Houses is supported by the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, as well as support from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture.

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