Photo courtesy of Andrew Billington
We embarked on an epic adventure to The Kingdom of Sweets as ‘The Nutcracker: A Christmas Fairytale’ started the festive season in style at The New Vic.
Based on ETA Hoffman’s original story and featuring the music of Tchaikovsky, the production tells the story of Marie, celebrating Christmas Eve with her mother, brother and her mysterious Uncle.
Awake during the magical time as Christmas Even becomes Christmas Day, Marie finds herself transported to a magical land with the enchanted Nutcracker Prince complete with spun-sugar snowflakes, dancing gingerbread and cherry drops to the Kingdom of Sweets at the top of the Christmas tree.
The costumes (Lis Evans) and set (Laura Willstead) are stunning and the meticulous attention to every detail is clear to see. For example, in the Kingdom of Sweets, blink and you miss it, but a mother strolling around the square is seen carrying a ‘jelly baby’ in her arms. Little details like that show the thought which has gone into every aspect. The effects with the Christmas Tree, the boat across the Lemonade Lake and the Kingdom of Sweets square transported you seamlessly across the journey.
Franky Attard plays Marie with Edwin Cheng playing Nutcracker. Both are brilliant individually and collectively. They were high-energy and carried their roles with aplomb. Peter Watts (who appeared in last year’s Alice in Wonderland) was fantastic as Drosselmeyer along with Kate Spencer (Coronation Street amongst others) who played Marie’s mother as well as Queen of the Kingdom of Sweets.
The entire cast were brilliant. The intricate dance moves, the character acting, the energy of the whole performances was brilliant to watch. The ballet performances from (amongst others) Maeve Nolan, Amy Louise Harrison and Clara Darcy were wonderful. There were also some really amusing moments courtesy of Matthew Ganley as the King and Austin Garret as the Archduke.
The musical direction under Farhaan Shah (Astley’s Astounding Adventures) was fantastic. The pieces from Tchaikovsky expertly played from a ledge overlooking the stage.
The show is a highly imaginative retelling of a classic tale with a beautiful score. The show is on until 27th January and tickets are available here
