A TROUPE BACK IN TIME
SCOTTISH BALLET’S THE NUTCRACKER FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH 09.12
THE set for this deliciously old school version of one of the bestloved ballets is straight out of the kind of Christmas card that has almost disappeared under pugs in Santa hats.
There’s a huge twinkling tree, elegant ladies in crinolines, little boys in sailor suits and men in the kind of military jackets now worn only by toy soldiers.
It’s the perfect backdrop for Christopher Hampson’s revival of Scottish Ballet founder Peter Darrell’s veteran production.
He bucks the current trend and casts children in more than skip-on roles.
This is lush and visually enchanting rather than boundary-pushing.
The young team are particularly adorable as the mice, carrying their tales, wearing Beatrix Potter-style heads on top of their smocked dresses.
Scot Christopher Harrison is a deliciously athletic prince and there is a collective swoon from the younger members of the audience when Sophie Martin does her first tutu twirl as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Conductor Jean-Claude Picard does a great job of making Tchaikovsky’s familiar score sound fresh and light.
What a cracking night. ● Scottish Ballet’s The Nutcracker is at Edinburgh Festival Theatre until December 30 then on tour. Go to www.scottishballet.co.uk for more information.
ANNA BURNSIDE