This play tells the story of a brother and sister， Hansel and Gretel. They live with their father and stepmother. They are poor and their stepmother hates them. The children hear their stepmother saying they cannot afford to keep Hansel and Gretel.
She takes the children into the forest and leaves them there. Hansel leaves a trail of pebbles， so they follow it home. Their father is delighted to see them but their stepmother is angry. She takes them into the forest again and leaves them. Hansel leaves a trail of breadcrumbs， but birds eat them.
When the children walk through the forest， they find a gingerbread house. As they are eating pieces of the house， an old woman opens the door. She invites them to stay， but she is a witch. She puts Hansel in a cage and fattens him up to eat him. When the witch tells Gretel to light the oven， Gretel pushes her into the oven. The children escape and go home. Their stepmother has died and they live happily ever after with their father.