The story about the little girl allegedly abducted by a Roma family in Greece - and subsequently found to have been given away by her true mother, another Roma in Bulgaria - happened to surface at the same time as I'd been to see Matilda the Musical in London, closely followed by Hänsel and Gretel at Glyndebourne.
Four of us went to see Matilda, and two of us found the ending disconcerting: the parents, who have consistently mistreated their brainbox of a child, go off to sunnier climes, abandon Matilda to the willing care of her loving teacher. Matilda, who has survived by dreaming of an ideal father and mother, is delighted with the outcome. There seemed to be a subversive anti-family message here. One of our number was of the view that it was not untypical of fairytales, where a child manages to escape from wicked parents. This gave rise to much discussion over a dinner afterwards at Mon Plaisir, round the corner in Monmouth Street.
When it came to Hänsel and Gretel the problem was reversed. In the Glyndebourne production the parents of the sweet-loving duo are portrayed as, respectively, a harrassed mother who doesn't hesitate to hit her offspring and a well-meaning alcoholic. When the wicked witch finally meets her deserved end in her oven the children are reunited with their appalling parents in a loving finale that somehow lacks conviction.
In neither case were we left with an entirely comfortable ending: Matilda had arguably already been damaged by her rightful parents, while Hänsel and Gretel were probably heading for some pretty rough times.
Which brings me to the little girl in Greece. Her rightful mother claims that she had given her to the Greek Roma family because she couldn't afford to keep her. Now she wants her back. I'm not sure that the future is particularly rosy for the little girl in either event.
Antony Mair
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