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First Posted: 8/14/2014 Handsome and Petal are a brother and sister, and just like the more famous Hansel and Gretel, they are destined to meet a mysterious woman who lives in a house covered with sweet treats.
&#8220;She&#8217;s nice and sweet until you don&#8217;t do what she wants,&#8221; said 8-year-old Connor Griggs of Scranton, who has been busy rehearsing the role of Handsome.
&#8220;She&#8217;s a wicked old witch,&#8221; said 7-year-old Sultanaah Wyman of Scranton, one of several little girls decked out in tutus and feathers to portray a flock of bluebirds.
Please don&#8217;t say witch, Rudy Caporaso says in character as Auntie Hystamine, who would rather not be reminded of those nasty Salem trials.
Flashing big faux-diamond rings, a long, black dress and striped stockings and adjusting a frizzy white wig during a rehearsal in West Scranton last week, Auntie Hystamine explained, &#8220;I prefer &#8216;supernatural entrepreneur&#8217;.&#8221;
No matter what you&#8217;d call Auntie Hystamine &#8212; and the word &#8220;cannibal&#8221; comes to mind, especially when you notice her necklace of little bones strung together &#8212; she does pose a threat to Handsome and Petal.
If you want to find out whether the plucky siblings escape her clutches, or end up inside her Weber grill, you&#8217;re welcome to attend the &#8220;Handsome and Petal&#8221; production at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22 in the West Scranton Senior Center on Jackson Street in Scranton.
This is where artistic directors Rosemary Hay and Caporaso from the New York City-based REV Theatre Co. have spent the past three weeks rehearsing with children from the United Neighborhood Centers summer day camps.
Part of the company&#8217;s mission is to bring free professional productions and children&#8217;s workshops to under-served communities, particularly in low to middle-income areas. Along the way, the kids say they&#8217;re having a great time.
&#8220;Some of them have real talent,&#8221; Hay said, &#8220;and all of them are gaining confidence and learning to work together as a team.&#8221;
The best part, the young actors said, is the chase scene which involves the title characters, all the bluebirds and the witch&#8217;s henchmen, Lulabelle and Helmut.
&#8220;They are complete nitwits,&#8221; 18-year-old Miranda Chemchick said of the pair of numbskulls she and 17-year-old Victoria Hunsinger portray.
Hay, the co-director, said she and Caporaso updated the old Hansel and Gretel fairy tale to make it &#8220;very contemporary and very funny.&#8221; The main characters come from a single-parent household and get lost in an urban park instead of the traditional forest. &#8220;Everyone will be able to relate,&#8221; Hay said.
The project is taking place in collaboration with the Scranton Cultural Center and is supported by the Lackawanna County Arts Council, the Scranton Area Foundation, the Puffin Foundation and PNC Bank. Wegmans also helped, by supplying some cookies and candy that are necessary to the story.
And, yes, after the show, children are welcome to sample those decorations from the witch&#8217;s house.

‘Handsome and Petal’ gives twist to old tale