© ENB ENB 'Nutcracker' reviews 'Nutcracker' reviews Mukhamedov in reviews Edur in reviews recent ENB reviews more Jeffery Taylor reviews

The result is schizophrenia, a Nutcracker of 2 halves. In Bristol last week at the start of a nationwide tour, the curtain rose on a colourful, crazy pantomime, thanks to satirist Gerald Scarfe’s extravagant designs, followed after the interval by the fairly traditional dances of young neo-classical choreographer, Christopher Hampson.

It is all good clean Christmas fun. Grandpa, in orange kilt and Zimmer frame, gets frisky with the excessively upholstered Miss V Agra, the little boys are naughty and the little girls enchanting. Young Clara (Erina Takahashi) gets her Nutcracker toy while major domo and magician Drosselmeyer (Irek Mukhamedov) happily conjures up the story as he goes along. The Russian ballet star is dressed up as Gary Glitter, but as the story steadfastly ignores this reference Mukhamedov is free to exercise his own personal stage magic, and on the way ideally dematerialise the irritating cloak and naff wig. When Clara drops off in front of the telly, all hell breaks loose as she battles through her nightmare. Scarfe’s mice have black pig snout gas masks and ominous ears while the tin soldiers parachute to Clara’s rescue in pink combat gear. Smoke billows, cannons explode and whistles shriek in a thoroughly satisfying bedlam before the Nutcracker toy turns into a gorgeous Prince (Thomas Edur), snowflakes spew from the family freezer and blow him and Clara to the Land of Sweets. Rows of nodding lollipops then sit on verandas of chocolate boxes in front of a knickerbocker Himalayan range while, at last, the dancers do what they do best – dance.

Erina Takahashi as Clara in Christopher Hampson's Nutcracker
Photograph courtesy of English National Ballet ©

A hairy green bear transforms into a typically exuberant Yat-Sen Chang and a battle of the leaps with Mukhamedov; the Chinese arrive on a take-away trolley while an Arabian seductress peeks through quivering ostrich feathers wielded by a group of grateful young males. The ballet’s finale is the traditional grand duet exquisitely performed by Edur and Agnes Oaks. In a shimmering display of classical dancing, the couple remind us of The Nutcracker’s Imperial Russian origins. But those opulent days are long gone; living on a shoestring limits the balletic options - like stocking up at Ikea instead of splashing out at Harrods.