Review: The Nutcracker, Scottish Ballet, Theatre Royal
The Glasgow-based company returns with a last Christmas hurrah
If you have a ticket, well done. Congratulations! You’re in for a couple of hours (just shy) of near perfection, from the orchestra’s delicate opening notes to the last exultant blast of what appear to be shimmering chocolate wrappers filling the air.
It’s the ideal climax, like a hypnotist’s snapping fingers ending the dream state ahead of the coat gathering and shuffling to the exits.
Before the curtain descends, though, the applause, prolonged and so well deserved.
You’ll never – well, rarely - hear artists of any kind claiming perfection. It sounds like complacency. They’ll own up to all sorts of pratfalls - missed steps, wrong notes, costume fails.
Even the squeaks and squawks of the orchestra tuning up in the pit seem like a modest preliminary admission: Look, we’re about to perform some of the most sublime music ever composed (rather dismissively, it’s said, by Tchaikovsky at the time) but we’re capable of sounding crap.
From an audience perspective, however, there’s nothing not to like about what follows here as all the parts come together wonderfully.
Scottish Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker has been in the repertoire since 1972, created by founding director Peter Darrell and revived a decade ago by current incumbent Christopher Hampson.
It returns to the Theatre Royal, last stop on this tour, in a newly freshened up version incorporating the flourishes of six other choreographers and unfolding again on Lez Brotherston’s sumptuous but unfussy sets.
And the dancing, as you’d expect, is breathtaking, a collective masterclass of poise and artistry, Evan Loudon as The Nutcracker Prince, Madeline Squire as Drosselmeyer, the magician and giver of gifts, and Marge Hendrick as The Snow Queen, tall and elegant.
Then there’s Gina Scott, smiling throughout her exacting routine as The Sugar Plum Fairy, delivering a stand-out moment when it’s just her and the music and we all hold our breath as she appears to be dancing on air.
At Scottish Ballet, though, demonstrating versatility, the principal roles get shared around, and on another night with another cast you can believe it would be just as good.
The Nutcracker is a Christmas story, the title taken from the nutcracker doll given to the little girl, Clara, who then dreams it into life at the end of a long day and is transported into the fantastical world we get to share.
There are battling toy soldiers and mice and, in the second act, a colourful parade of dancers from all corners of the globe.
Children are part of the cast and offer a hint of burgeoning talent, none more so that young Ava Morrison, recruited from a Scottish dance school to be a charming and memorable Clara, holding her own among the adult dancers around her.
There’s a ballet star in the making, there, I reckon, although maybe she has dreams in other directions. Whatever happens, this experience will have done her no harm.
Scottish Ballet no sooner appear among us than they’re gone, but there are a few more performances before the short run ends on Saturday, February 8. Tickets – there might be a few left – via the Theatre Royal website or call 0191 2327010.