IT MAY have been 20 years since Matthew Bourne first tickled audience taste-buds with his deliciously moreish version of The Nutcracker, but the show has lost none of its bitter-sweetness with the passage of time.
Bourne takes E T A Hoffmann’s original Christmas story, adds a dollop of childhood nostalgia, a generous pinch of saucy silliness and gives it a vigorous post-modernist shake.
The result is a swirling mix of spiralling candy stripes and Tim Burton-esque gothic fantasy, taking the audience tumbling head-first down the proverbial rabbit hole into a world where marshmallow girls in fur-lined mini skirts flirt with biker gobstoppers and Liquorice Allsorts dance the flamenco.
Forget codpieces and tutus, this is ballet and dance for the 21st century.
Set in a Victorian orphanage, run by the psychotic Dr Dross, dressed like Herr Flick and armed with a riding whip which he’s not afraid to use, there’s a wickedly dark subtext to Bourne’s vision.
A cross between Oliver! and Willy Wonka, Clara’s dreamy escape from the prison-like confines of the home for “waifs and strays” to the finger-licking good Sweetieland is a surreal nightmare as her beloved Nutcracker doll is seduced by the sticky charms of rival Sugar.
With the help of a couple of cupids, Clara must navigate a pick ‘n’ mix of creepy candy characters to win back her handsome toy boy before he ties the knot and honeymoons on top of a giant, pink-iced wedding cake.
From the lecherous Knickerbocker Glory (a wonderfully reptilian Adam Maskell) to the stoicly obstructive Humbug Bouncer, it’s a world of sugar and spice but nothing nice.
Hannah Vassallo plays the love-struck Clara with a tender innocence, while the towering and impressively built Christopher Trenfield’s Nutcracker is a brilliantly knowing dumb hunk.
While Ashley Shaw as Sugar is a bitchy delight and makes a devishly good double act with Dominic North’s malevolent brother Fritz.
Bourne’s Nutcracker! is a joyous sugar rush, which, combined with Tchaikovsky’s magical score, is a feast for the eyes and the ears.
Nutcracker! runs at The Churchill Theatre in High Street, Bromley, until Saturday. Call 0844 871 7620 or visit atgtickets.com/bromley
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