Review: The Nutcracker

Apr 18 2008 by Mike Smith, Western Mail

Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff

MATTHEW Bourne's rise to near cult status was not instant. That is fortunate for ballet audiences – and Mr Bourne – as he has a back catalogue of choreography that was not seen that widely when first performed.

So this year WMC audiences have the rather unseasonable treat of his Nutcracker to enjoy – and enjoy they did.

And, of course, first-time viewers won’t care that it is quite a few years old now and predates more recent Bourne choreography we have seen here.

It is great fun and will appeal to all age groups with its bright sets, sumptuous costumes and bags of laughs.

The Nutcracker is a popular Christmas favourite for all these reasons and the seemingly fairy tale story of the little girl, her toys that come to life, pretty dances and Tchaikovsky's mind-blowing, fabulous music.

However, in the right hands Nutcracker is also a psychological story, a look at the transition from childhood innocence to young adulthood, convention and conformity. Unfortunately there is little of the latter in Bourne's response to the ballet despite the poignancy of the music, so you laugh and smile but you have no sense of loss, of heartache. You can sit back and let all the jollity and humour, visual splendour and gags flow over you like waves of cream. But if you like your chocolates laced with a little, shall we say, liqueur to give it a bit of a kick and some substance under the sweetness, this isn't really for you.

That is not to say Bourne cannot look at the piece and come up with some perfectly valid, turn-on-its-head new approaches to the work, such as setting the Act One party in a Victorian orphanage instead of a middle-class family home. The sombre set with a dead Christmas tree is filled with young dancers who are given characteristically enthusiastic, even wild, choreography. It kind of makes sense.

Without wanting to spoil the effect for fresh audiences, there is a smashing transformation scene that sees the giant tree crashing through the set. Rebellion is in the air against the horrendous Dr and Mrs Dross. Not quite how I read Tchaikovsky's ballet but, hey, this is Bourne, so go with the flow.

In all productions of the ballet it is, however, Act Two with all its wealth of dance opportunities – and most of the famous music – that audiences adore. It is packed with characters, cameo performances and fantasy. What better an opportunity for Bourne to let his imagination fly, so we have the guests at Princess Sugar's wedding dressed like sweets who cavort around, tasting each other.

The dramatic and visual culmination is the over-the-top and stunning Busby Berkeley-style wedding cake show stopper. Yet again we are left feeling a little short-changed when the ballet's true climax, the final grand pas de deux which takes us from adolescent fantasy to young adult reality, is swept along in a business-like manner.

Apologies for the analogies, but Bourne is like a child in a sweet shop. Although as far as the ballet is concerned it is more like a bull in a china shop. Of course you have to enjoy the show for what it is but the same goes for a “mocktail”, sweet and pleasant but missing that heartwarming something.

Tchaikovsky's music just about survives and if a single audience member is tempted into an orchestra hall to hear the music played live, be tempted to watch a classical ballet company perform the work or delve further into WMC's impressive schedule of contemporary dance, I will take my hat off to Matthew Bourne.

4 out of 5

The show runs until tomorrow. The box office number is 0870 040 2000