Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker!
Liverpool Empire January 24-28.
9/10
Going to see anything by Matthew Bourne and his New Adventures Company is like opening a magic box.
You do not find inside what you expect – until you see the name on the label. For Bourne is renowned for re-working classical pieces – Swan Lake, Cinderella etc, using the marvellous music of the composer yet exciting his audiences with innovative and exciting choreography.
The wonderful music of Tchaikovsky stays the same in this Nutcracker as it does for his other ‘classic’ productions, but he uses this music to breathtaking advantage, and being Bourne, of course, there are overtly sexual nuances that amaze and amuse. For there is much humour in this very colourful production that has the audience laughing out loud, and although more sexy than traditional productions, these moves go over the heads of the youngsters who just see the colour and the fun. For instance in Sweetieland the characters ‘lick’ each other as they dance - for in Sweetieland you are judged not by what you look like, but how you taste! This is amusing if a little overdone.
Bourne uses the music with a nod to the traditional set dances but gives them a modern twist, blowing through a welcome breath of fresh air in what can sometimes be seen as dated followings of what has gone before.
The story starts out in a Dickensian orphanage, instead of the usual opulent home of Clara (Hannah Vassallo) the star of the story. Here she is amongst many orphans, including one she has a ‘crush’ on. The orphanage scene sees many alternative dance moves with the children, danced by adults, using hula hoops and skipping ropes. The directors, Dr Dross (James Leece) and his wife, the matron (Madelaine Brennan) are cruel and gifts given to the children on Christmas Eve are cruelly taken away as they go to bed and locked in a cupboard. Clara, the last to take a gift out of a basket of presents, finds the Nutcracker doll lurking in a hidden compartment. As the clock strikes midnight Sugar, the director’s daughter creeps in and opens the cupboard, trying to find the coveted doll that she tried to steal earlier from Clara. Out jumps the doll, now life size, danced magnificently last night by Chris Trenfield.
The set, a grey room, meanly decorated with a few homemade garlands and limp balloons, then splits asunder, the cracks in the wall widening to the sound of thunder and lightning, and a leafless plant sporting a silver star, which had been thrown out of the window by the matron, grows and invades through the walls. This is Bourne’s interpretation of the magnificent Christmas tree that stands in the corner in traditional Nutcrackers.
The set shifts to a magical frozen lake where the dancers all in white dance a wonderful skating scene, with a blue background sporting fluffy clouds, and snowflakes magically falling, giving an ethereal effect. But more magic is to come when guided by two be-spectacled and amusing cupids (Phil Jack Gardner and Sophia Hurdley) Clara finds herself in Sweetieland. Here we have the colourful characters all depicting sweets - a huge Humbug Bouncer dressed in a black and white uniform who tries to stop Clara entering the kingdom, which is by invitation only. The set is a wide open mouth with sparkling bright pink lips through which she tries to pass. The Knickerbocker Glory (Adam Maskell) with a whipped white hairdo teases her with two passes but then denies her entry. We also have Liquorice Allsorts, and the hilarious Marshmallow Girls dressed in powder puff pink skirts and wigs that wiggle and giggle their way through the scenes, a la Marilyn Monroe, to hilarious effect. There are also three lads dressed in colourful biker costumes – the gobstoppers – their helmets all different colours. Whilst they are fighting, and Humbug is distracted, Clara sneaks in to Sweetieland.
The set shifts again and we are greeted with a huge wedding cake. Sugar ends up marrying her sweetheart, the doll/Clara’s crush, whilst Clara despairs on the sidelines.
The sets and costumes by designer Anthony Ward are a delight, and the dancing truly engaging. This is the most energetic and exhausting repertoire for Bourne’s company but the dancers never let up, giving a bravura performance.
In the end, of course, it all comes out well for Clara, as she wakes up and realises it has all been a dream. Alone in the orphanage, with the clock still at midnight, she pulls back her bedcovers and finds her ‘crush’/ the Nutcracker doll and they escape with knotted sheets through a window together.
Bourne will be bringing his version Sleeping Beauty to the Empire this time next year. Make a note in your diaries and get your tickets early. This is another brilliant treat that no-one should miss!
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