Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker!

One word - "Glorious"!

Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker started life 30 years ago as part of the 100th Anniversary celebration of the original production and became a firm favourite. But it has not been seen in 10 years and this is a new production with new Anthony Ward designs and some new choreography. It is a genuine delight.

Gone are the rather overstuffed Christmas family, replaced with a Dickensian orphanage's modest, and insincere, gathering to impress the visiting benefactors. The Nutcracker, or in this interpretation, Clara's doll, provides the magic that transports the children to Sweetieland via the Frozen Lake. Re-interpreting Tchaikovsky's original score in this way makes it more accessible and, frankly, fun. There is an enormous amount of humour in the designs, the characterisations and the choreography all helped along with a good dash of imaginative projection. 

Visually delightful, musically superb and danced with skill and a sense of fun this is a real treat of an evening.