Choreographers: Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smith
The English National Ballet returns with another version of the classic The Nutcracker. Similar to last year’s production, this year’s story takes place in Edwardian London. As well as the change in time period, this production revises the story in minor ways, but keeps the central themes of imagination and love at its core.
This tale begins with Drosselmeyer (Junor Souza), a toymaker, sweetshop owner, and occasionally a magician, tinkering away in his secret workshop above his sweet shop. He creates the nutcracker, which he brings down to his sweetshop. Clara and her mother enter and choose which sweets to bring to their party. Clara notices the nutcracker but heads home with her mother. Along the way, she notices many different characters on the street, ranging from chimney sweeps to suffragettes to street urchins.
Once the Christmas Eve party begins, a lot of activity happens. From watching the antics of the young children, to the adults dancing, to the eccentric aunt who offers plenty of comedic relief, audiences might feel the need to see this production twice to catch all the little intricate details. One nice touch is how the adults’ costumes match their dreamworld counterparts. This gives a great contrast to reality and fantasy later in the production. Eventually, Clara is given the nutcracker she first caught a glimpse of at Drosselmeyer’s shop.
Souza is an amazing Drosselmeyer and really creates a fun and interesting character. He easily captivates the audience with his magic, movements and facial expressions. Regardless of where he stands on the stage, viewers will look towards him because he is very much the puppeteer in this performance. He becomes the bridge between reality and imagination and does this well.
There is a feeling of helplessness when watching Clara. Though this might be unintentional, because Souza is such a strong actor, it can feel as if Clara is being jostled around and not in control of her own story. This creates an interesting dynamic since this production promotes female strength and power. The production includes the suffragettes that Clara saw earlier, and they encourage her to take a stand when the Nutcracker Doll is fighting the Rat King. With their encouragement, Clara delivers the final blow that kills the Rat King. Yet, there is this feeling that all the events that occur are due to Drosselmeyer’s making, and not due to Clara and her imagination.
The fantasy vs reality aspect is well done, largely due to the set and costume designer Dick Bird. From the streets of London to Clara’s living room, to the Land of Sweets and Delights, each set change is well executed to dazzle the audience. There is also a screen on which digital images appear, helping the audience feel as if they, too, are on a magical sleigh ride with the Nutcracker Doll and Clara.
Once arriving at the Land of Sweets and Delights, Clara and the Nutcracker Doll enjoy tasty sweets while watching brilliant performances. Each group of dancers connects well with the audience. Once their dance is done, most of the dancers stay on stage, and audiences watch them interact with the next performances, always engaging and magical to watch.
This is a wonderful festival production, perfect to watch by yourself, friends, or with family of all ages. But be careful not to get a cavity from this sweet-filled adaptation of The Nutcracker!
Runs until 11 January 2026
