Sweet as sugar candy
10:58am Wednesday 16th April 2008
ORIGINALITY, wit, great storytelling and fabulous design are the hallmarks of the UK’s leading choreographer, Matthew Bourne, and they are all gloriously evident in the production of Nutcracker!, which runs until Saturday, April 19, at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.
This is a Nutcracker far removed from the traditional versions of the ballet, opening not with a fantastical festive scene, but in the stark surroundings of Dr Dross’s Orphanage for Waifs and Strays, where Christmas is an illusion created to impress the visitors, and dismantled as soon as they leave.
In Bourne’s interpretation, the Snowflakes scene becomes a magical skating party for the orphans, complete with falling snow, while the Kingdom of Sweets is transformed into Sweetieland, where everything is edible, even the confectionary characters - the Liquorice Allsorts, Gobstoppers, Humbug Bouncer and the unforgettably fluffy Marshmallow Girls.
At the heart of this delightful confection is Clara, the young girl yearning for love, who finds a powerful rival for the hunky Nutcracker in Dr Dross’s saccharine-sweet daughter, Sugar.
This is a production for all the family - witty, inventive and, thanks to Olivier-award winning designer Anthony Ward’s fantastic sets and costumes, an absolute visual feast.
Tchaikovsky’s score may be well over 100 years old, but Matthew Bourne’s genius for choreography and reinterpretation, combined with the quirkiness of Anthony Ward’s design makes Nutcracker! a show that’s bang up to date.
Nutcharcker! runs until Saturday, April 19. To book, click on the link below.