Matchstick Children is a collection of 9 original songs and 9 illustrations that decorate a re-telling of H.C. Andersen’s Little Girl With Matches, which is split into 9 scenes.
Each scene is introduced by a short commentary which takes the mid-19th century text and gives it a 21st century perspective.
The commentaries illuminate social themes raised by Andersen and still persist today: social loneliness and isolation; prejudice; abuse. But they also share Andersen’s insightful positivity, encouragement and hope.

The full production takes approximately 60 minutes. All the material is presented in easy-to-understand English.

Credits

Original text: Hans Christian Andersen
Lyrics & Music: John Ward
Illustrations: Alma Hvolby Kastenskov