Review: Matthew Bourne’s NUTCRACKER!, Birmingham Hippodrome - UK tour
Photo credit: Johan Persson
The original ballet The Nutcracker might be synonymous with the Christmas season, but Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker! is a delicious sweet treat that can be indulged in all year round. First staged in 1992, this freshly updated production is brimming with warmth, humour and fantasy, and wows the audience with inventive choreography and delectable sets.
The show opens on a Christmas Eve party at a grim Dickensian orphanage run by the tyrannical Dr and Mrs Dross. The orphans, including our heroine Clara, are forced to put on a display for a group of benefactors. Although the visitors leave the orphans gifts, the Dross’ greedy children Fritz and Sugar steal the best of them and the rest are locked away. However, at the stroke of midnight, the Nutcracker doll that Clara received comes to life and incites a rebellion among the orphans. They escape through a crack in the wall, and the sinister black-and-white set of the orphanage melts away to reveal blue skies and a frozen pond where the orphans, now transformed into beautifully-costumed skaters, celebrate their freedom with an ice-skating extravaganza, complete with falling snow. Unfortunately, Clara’s Nutcracker is transfixed by Princess Sugar and the two of them depart to Sweetieland, leaving Clara behind.
Act 2 follows Clara as she attempts to gain access to Sweetieland, hindered by the Humbug bouncer. The potentially problematic ‘national dances’ of the original ballet are replaced here by dances performed by different sweets arriving at Sweetieland, including the provocative Allsorts Trio, the fluffy Marshmallow Girls, the laddish Gobstoppers and the comically lascivious Knickerbocker Glory with his cigarette and cherry-topped wig. Once Clara finally enters the land, she finds the Nutcracker ready to marry Princess Sugar. Can she put a stop to it, or will there be something better waiting for her?
The choreography of Nutcracker! is joyful, uplifting and often cheeky, even in the dinginess of the orphanage setting, and the New Adventures company perfectly executes the mix of contemporary dance, folk and ballet. Cordelia Braithwaite is a charming, sympathetic Clara with her wide-eyed hopefulness and yearning, and Harrison Dowzell is believable both as Clara’s orphanage crush and the easily-led Nutcracker. Danny Reubens gives a wonderfully creepy performance as the leather-clad Dr Dross with his riding crop, while Ashley Shaw is magnetic as the spoilt, ambitious Sugar. The cast keep the audience entranced throughout, and Tchaikovsky’s classic score and the show’s compact two-hour runtime (including interval), everything moves along at a brisk pace and never drags.
Anthony Ward’s sets are striking, from the gothic orphanage to the super-sized red lips that frame Sweetieland’s entrance. The huge candle-lit wedding cake revealed at the climax, with the various sweet characters dancing on the tiers, provides a real wow-moment, drawing gasps from the audience and bringing to mind the luxury of Hollywood’s Golden Age musicals.
This production keeps much of the magic of the original ballet, but reinvents the story and adds plenty of laughs and sensuality. It’s an indulgent, candy-coloured confection that’s calorie-free, and it will leave all ages smiling. What more could you want, Besties?
**** Five stars
Reviewed by: Laura Lott
Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! plays at Birmingham Hippodrome until 12 February before continuing its UK tour. Tickets for Birmingham dates are available here.