'Nutcracker' review — English National Ballet's new 'Mary Poppins'-esque staging is a sweet treat for Christmas

Read our review of Nutcracker, choreographed by Aaron S. Watkins and Arielle Smith, now in performances at the London Coliseum to 12 January 2025.

As the end of the year approaches and we’re all a bit exhausted, it’s natural to crave comfort and escapism. English National Ballet’s new production of Nutcracker (no definite article) – the 11th in the company’s 75-year history – by artistic director Aaron S. Watkins with Arielle Smith doesn’t reinvent the wheel but has plenty of charm and sweetness without being saccharine.

Sweets are at the heart of this interpretation. Sumptuously designed by Dick Bird, we’re in the world of Mary Poppins with dancing chimney sweeps and suffragettes. Drosselmeyer’s Emporium of Sweets and Delights is supplemented by further international offerings at the market outside. Dressed in swishing red velvet, Junor Souza’s Drosselmeyer has the mischief of Timothée Chalamet’s benevolent young Willy Wonka, while bringing a sense of “otherness” to the posh Stahlbaum family’s lavish Christmas party.

Watkins and Smith give young heroine Clara a dynamic role throughout. First danced by the remarkably assured Delilah Wiggins, she morphs into a young adult (the radiant Ivana Bueno) as she enters the dreamworld. This Clara isn’t a damsel in distress; she’s the one who slays the Rat King and she holds the reigns of the sleigh pulled by an ice seahorse (random, but distinctive) with the Prince (Francesco Garbriele Frola) as her passenger. We see that she’s intrigued by the suffragettes in the opening scene, so perhaps she’ll end up rebelling against her upper-class background à la Lady Sybil in Downton Abbey.

Watkins and Smith sidestep some of Act Two’s cultural stereotypes with each novelty turn representing a sweet treat from a different culture, housed in tents that call to mind a Fortnum and Mason installation. Throughout, Clara is an active participant learning about different dance styles and cultures.

She’s impressed by the sensual Middle Eastern sahlab dance (a milky drink made of orchid root), though it represents something a little exotically adult at present. There’s an adorable troupe of junior Liquorice Allsorts, and Clara and the Prince join a swirl of Buttercream Roses. Stealing the show, however, are the black-and-white striped makivnyks (traditional Ukrainian poppy seed rolls), led by the splendidly athletic Daniel McCormick.

The set-piece from the Sugarplum Fairy and her Cavalier was something of an anticlimax at the performance I attended, due to what seemed to be an “off” night for Emma Hawes and Aitor Arrieta. The fish dive lifts in the grand pas de deux were fudged and the pair lacked chemistry together and individual radiance. But, hey-ho, it’s an ensemble piece.

Tchaikovsky’s score sounds ravishing under the baton of Maria Seletskaja (a former dancer-turned-conductor – what a fascinating career change). A worthy addition to ENB’s repertoire that seems likely to satisfy audiences for numerous Christmases to come.

Nutcracker is at the London Coliseum to 12 January 2025. Book Nutcracker tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Nutcracker (Photos by Johan Persson)