The Nutcracker: English National Ballet's reboot restores 'festive sparkle'

Hats off to English National Ballet (ENB) for restoring some "festive sparkle" with its brand-new production of "The Nutcracker", said Debra Craine in The Times. Frankly, the previous version was a "dreary, dispiriting affair", despite filling theatres at Christmas for over a decade.

The revamped production is a huge improvement, agreed Lyndsey Winship in The Guardian. Artistic director Aaron S Watkin eschews gimmicks and doesn't attempt to reinterpret Tchaikovsky's ballet too drastically; instead he's collaborated with rising star choreographer, Arielle Smith, and "cracking" designer, Dick Bird, to really "make the stage zing".

Set in Edwardian London with the dome of St Paul's visible in the background, chimney sweeps and suffragettes fill the stage. Here, eccentric toymaker Drosselmeyer runs a sweets emporium ("very 'Willy Wonka'") and is "the person pulling all the strings".

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Soon, we're transported to the Stahlbaums' "bougie" family home, said David Jays in London's The Standard. After their Christmas party "little Clara creeps downstairs" and begins dreaming of "magical" characters that reflect her waking world: her aunt is transformed into the Ice Queen, while her mother becomes the Sugar Plum Fairy. The latter is played by Emma Hawes whose footwork is like "delicate piping-bag tracery across the floor". "Time stands still when she appears."

"Fun, cohesive and astoundingly pretty", ENB's new production delivers "Quality Street levels of moreish pleasure". One of the few "misjudgments" is the decision to make Drosselmeyer "positively creepy", and in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis you might "wince" at the "privileged tots" parading their extravagant gifts.

"I'd hoped for a little more choreographic razzmatazz", said Mark Monahan in The Telegraph, but this "sweet-toothed new 'Nutcracker' is a definite step up from the old, and one that I can imagine my two young children finding particularly enticing".

In the second act, we're "treated" to a "parade of global delicacies" from children as "very cute" Liquorice Allsorts to Rentaro Nakaaki as a "spinning, leaping Ukrainian poppy seed roll", added Winship in The Guardian. "The whole thing feels familiar but fresh, colourful but still classy, sweet but not sickly. A solid success."

At London Coliseum until 12 January