Choreographer and Director: Drew McOnie
Anyone who has seen Drew McOnie’s impressive musical theatre choreography will rightly expect much from his small-scale but radical reimagining of The Nutcracker, a yuletide favourite, many versions of which will appear during the forthcoming festive season. This one arrives in full-sequinned glory between Halloween and Bonfire Night to set the standard that the more traditional interpretations will struggle to match. Exploring sexuality and gender identity in a purpose-built venue underneath the Southbank Centre, McOnie’s production is a very early Christmas present.
Disappointed to see his son playing with the Christmas tree fairy, a dad foists an Action Man on his son instead and then leaves him alone on Christmas Eve while he goes to work. Meanwhile, Clive falls into a magical land where not only does Action Man come to life but also the Sugar Plum Fair who takes them both on a journey where they can be themselves among the flowers and fruits of Dreamland.
The Nutcracker has been reconceived many times and restaged in various period settings but few productions look at the very underpinnings of the story and its messaging in the way that McOnie does here. Moving the action to an economically challenged single-parent family in a small flat adds a different kind of purpose to the story, removing the eager excitement of a young girl unable to sleep, instead adding a layer of sadness and loneliness that makes Clive’s (Mark Samaras) dream world all the more vibrant and important in laying the foundations of self-acceptance. McOnie taps into the social pressures to conform and the deep-rooted childhood feeling of wanting to be someone different.
The second major and highly successful switch is to make this a story about Action Man (aka the Nutcracker Doll) rather than Clive, exploring the masculine and military inferences invested in this doll-come-to-life and pushing him to embrace a more fluid concept of manliness through his engagement with the creations of Dreamland and the ragdoll Sugar Plum Fairy (Patricia Zhou). The consistency of this vision is remarkably well achieved, as Clive shapes his live doll, broadening Action Man’s horizons and creating the non-gendered toys he really desires – and it leads to a truly lovely moment later in the show as the two dolls adopt each other’s identities through costume.
McOnie’s choreography has always been exhilarating, a creative who brilliantly disguised the social distancing mandates for a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at Regent’s Park and made it seem integral. Here in the small Tuff Nutt Jazz Club space, he mixes traditional ballet with the freshness of contemporary musical theatre, throwing out the slightly cliched country and culture-based dance performances of Dreamland and instead basing them on fruits including a wonderful fizzy lemon (Rachel Muldoon) full of spotted spins, a luscious, undulating orange (Chanelle Anthony) and some intensely shaped apples (Tim Hodges).
Character flows through the dance choices, giving the dolls steps and shapes that match their material forms: Action Man (Amonik Melaco) stiffly marching with bent elbows and knees while the ragdoll Sugar Plum Fairy flops with loosened limbs. That is until her own time in the spotlight, a ballet moment made to feel as sensuous and alluring as an Argentine Tango.
It’s all beautifully designed by Soutra Gilmour in a traverse staging area while Ryan Dawson Light’s many costumes are gorgeous, easily consuming the sequin budget of most dance companies but certainly worth it for the visual spectacle. The only duff note, a slightly awkward speaking moment towards the end as a superfluous poem is read aloud, quickly followed by a dance that tells us the same story anyway. Nonetheless, the jazz staging, the vibrant dance, Cassie Kinoshi’s clever reworking of Tchaikovsky and the positive messaging feel like a great start to the festive season.
Runs until 6 January 2023
The Reviews Hub Score:
Consistent vision
