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Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker
Dec. 30th, 2021 06:58 pmIt was December 2019 when we agreed we wanted to see the Nutcracker, as our between Christmas and New Year treat at Sadler's Wells, in London. So, as soon as February 2020 arrived and tickets went on sale we booked them. It was then postponed to this year, and with Omicron running riot a few performances were cancelled before Christmas and we were on tenterhooks whether we would finally see it or not. However, on Tuesday it was announced it was running again and we agreed we would go.
We drove up to London, not wishing to risk the train - either whether it would run, or how many people would be crammed in if it did. With a major delay on the motorway it took us five hours from leaving home to the Travelodge we were staying in overnight. However, we made it, and only had a 15 minute walk to the theatre.
The Nutcracker was wonderful. It begins in an orphanage and then via a frozen lake to reach Sweetieland. In the process the theme moves from the grey and black of the orphanage, through the white of the lake to the explosion of colour in Sweetieland.
I can't pick out any dancers to highlight them - they were all incredible. The complicated routines - and so many of them - together with the obvious joy in performance - means that every time I think someone excels, there's another to take their place. The sweeties are marvellous, beginning with the humbug, who acts as bouncer. There's the brightly coloured Allsorts Trio, and the rather dubious Knickerbocker Glory. The very pink Marshmallow Girls escorting a deeper pink Princess Sugar are complete airheads, while the three Gobstoppers are simply spoiling for a fight.
After the year we've had it was such a joy to finish it with something so bright and cheerful. In any year this would have been a highlight, but this year it was even more so.
We drove up to London, not wishing to risk the train - either whether it would run, or how many people would be crammed in if it did. With a major delay on the motorway it took us five hours from leaving home to the Travelodge we were staying in overnight. However, we made it, and only had a 15 minute walk to the theatre.
The Nutcracker was wonderful. It begins in an orphanage and then via a frozen lake to reach Sweetieland. In the process the theme moves from the grey and black of the orphanage, through the white of the lake to the explosion of colour in Sweetieland.
I can't pick out any dancers to highlight them - they were all incredible. The complicated routines - and so many of them - together with the obvious joy in performance - means that every time I think someone excels, there's another to take their place. The sweeties are marvellous, beginning with the humbug, who acts as bouncer. There's the brightly coloured Allsorts Trio, and the rather dubious Knickerbocker Glory. The very pink Marshmallow Girls escorting a deeper pink Princess Sugar are complete airheads, while the three Gobstoppers are simply spoiling for a fight.
After the year we've had it was such a joy to finish it with something so bright and cheerful. In any year this would have been a highlight, but this year it was even more so.
