Fairy Tale Courtroom: Audiences the jury as Wolf and Witch stand trial in production by Water Lane Theatre Company at Northgate Primary School

Generation after generation has grown up thinking they’re fairy-tale villains… but what if Big Bad Wolf and Wicked Witch (aka Evil Queen) have been the victims of a huge miscarriage of justice?

Thanks to Water Lane Theatre Company, three audiences in Bishop’s Stortford will be given the chance to hear the prosecution and defence cases and decide whether the pair are guilty or innocent.

The award-winning amateur drama group is staging Fairy Tale Courtroom, a short two-act play consisting of the trials of Wolf and Witch, directed by Sally Fenton.

The fun piece of theatre for all the family, written by Dana Proulx, is being staged at Northgate Primary School on the first weekend of half-term week, with family-friendly daytime performances at 2.30pm on Saturday October 25 and 11.30am and 2.30pm on Sunday October 26. There are no evening shows.

In the first half, Wolf represents himself against charges that include wilful destruction of property, assault with deadly natural weapons and impersonating a sheep.

How will the testimonies of his alleged victims stand up under cross-examination? Were the Three Little Pigs telling porkies? What was Little Red Riding Hood hiding in her basket for Grandmother?

After a recess for refreshments, it’s the turn of Witch to stand in the dock, accused of allegations that include harassment, attempted murder by cannibalism and slavery.

But are Dorothy and Scarecrow, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White as innocent as they seem?

Both trials will be determined by the audience acting as the jury. Members are invited to dress up as fairy-tale characters and there will be a prize at each performance for the most entertaining costume – children only!

The running time is about 90 minutes, including the interval. Tickets are available online only at https://www.ticketsource.com/waterlane. Prices are £24.20 for a family of two adults and two children or one adult and three children, £11 for adults and £6.60 for children (free for under-5s), all of which include a booking fee. There is a discount of £2 per ticket if you use the offer code WOLF.

There is parking on site for Blue Badge holders only, immediately outside the school in Cricketfield Lane and at Bishop’s Stortford rugby club at Silver Leys, about a five-minute walk from Northgate.

The cast features Paul Winspear as Wolf, Amanda Green as Witch, Granville Rush as District Attorney, Laura Martin as Witch’s defence attorney, Jacqui Kinnison as the judge, and Greg Hill and Penny Reeves as the bailiffs.

Corinna Graham-Hodson is Lil’ Red, Scarecrow and Magic Mirror, Sam Downes is the Three Little Pigs and Snow White, Jeanette Burke is Grandmother and Sleeping Beauty, Holly Featherstone is Badger, Dorothy and Gretel, and Greg Hill is Hansel.

The production is in support of Isabel Hospice and is sponsored, fittingly, by Bishop’s Stortford law firm Tees.