THE NUTCRACKER

The North Wall

★★★★

“newcomers of all ages will enjoy this playful and imaginative production”

Creation Theatre’s alternative version of The Nutcracker trades point shoes and pas de deux for plot, characters and a hark back to a wonderfully odd German tale written by E.T.A Hoffmann nearly two centuries ago. Rather than relying on classical ballet and a sweeping score, this production (written and directed by Helen Eastman) leans fully into storytelling giving the familiar characters new depth and transforming the whimsical world of The Nutcracker into something more vivid and emotionally resonant with a touch of ‘Toy Story’ thrown in.

At its heart is Marie (played with childish wonder by Hayley Murray) a perceptive little girl who sees things that adults cannot. It is Christmas Eve and Marie and her annoying brother Fritz are helping their mother (Asha Cornelia Cluer who also plays Clara and the twinkly Sugar Plum Fairy) to decorate the Christmas tree. All three have a very different perception of what a perfect Christmas should be. We see the fraught Christmas of her mother trying frantically to juggle everything before the big day, Fritz taking delight in tormenting his sister and timid Marie who just wants her mother to listen to her and is happy for them all to just be together. Their eccentric Uncle Drosselmeyer pays them a visit and gives Marie a toy nutcracker (a marvellously wooden performance by Clark Alexander who also plays Drosselmeyer) as a Christmas present. When The Nutcracker and her favourite toy Clara later come alive to wage war against the fiendish Mouse King, whose subjects have taken up residence in her house, she is drawn into a surreal hidden world of sweets, mice and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Here she finds her confidence and discovers her own superpowers – kindness, friendship, loyalty and some very useful yet appalling recorder playing!

The Mouse King (played by Andy Owens who also plays Fritz) is a kind of gangster rapper baddie who has a delightfully witty scene of cleverly rephrased Shakespearean quotes ‘a plague on both your mouses’, ‘friends, rodents, countrymen…’ which helps to pick up the pace in the second half along with a hilarious battle scene involving brussels sprouts. The children, who are all part of Creation Theatre’s education programme that reaches hundreds of children annually through weekly drama clubs and holiday workshops, play the mice and various sweets and sing along to the catchy original songs by composer Patrick Stockbridge. They even serenade us with carols in the foyer – what a lovely touch.

The adaptable set (David Spence) is a jauntily angled classic living room with candy striped walls, hung with the odd masterpiece and a black and white liquorice allsorts floor. Drosselmeyer peers down at the action through the lath and plaster ceiling bursting with clock mechanisms reflecting the style of the pre Victorian era in which it was written.

Modern ballets ignore the tale within a tale which is acted out in this production and explains The Nutcracker’s enchantment. The original story hints that beneath all the Christmas sparkle lies something darker than the sugar-coated story this has become over the years. Long time fans of the original will appreciate the respectful nods to tradition while newcomers of all ages will enjoy this playful and imaginative production of The Nutcracker.

THE NUTCRACKER

The North Wall

Reviewed on 6th December 2025

by Sarah Milton

Photography by Geraint Lewis

Previously reviewed by Sarah:

THE LITTLE MERMAID | ★★★★ | WATERMILL THEATRE NEWBURY | November 2025

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK | ★★★★★ | LYRIC HAMMERSMITH | November 2025

MARKING TIME | ★★★½ | SADLER’S WELLS THEATRE | November 2025

CHARLEY’S AUNT | ★★★★★ | WATERMILL THEATRE NEWBURY | October 2025

DOUBTING THOMAS | ★★★½ | THEATRE ROYAL WINDSOR | June 2025

THREE HENS IN A BOAT | ★★★★★ | WATERMILL THEATRE NEWBURY | May 2025

THE NUTCRACKER

★★★

“the fussy details and the gentility of the acting make this production thought-provoking but lacking impact”

It is a rarity to find Brecht performed in a pub in South London but it is here where director Rachael Bellis parallels 1930s Nazi Germany with the possible consequences on our modern, global society, of having voted for Brexit and Trump.

Bertholt Brecht wrote ‘Fear and Misery of the Third Reich’ while in exile in Denmark. Inspired by a visit to Moscow, his first openly anti-Nazi play has no plot but is a series of scenes knitted together, depicting the breakdown of normal relationships under the Nazis. The 24 sketches illustrate the gradual distrust, suspicion, deception and betrayal that grew between friends, colleagues and even family. The Aequitas Theatre Company’s version is an insight into what might happen if society succumbs to its oppressors, but emphasising the importance of resistance. Brecht’s drama is brave and gritty and although there is no doubt that his message is relevant today, the fussy details and the gentility of the acting make this production thought-provoking but lacking impact as a piece of drama.

After an original start, leaving the audience off-balance, the production struggles to maintain the tension. There are quality performances from Clark Alexander – in particular in Scene 3 – and Faye Maughan, both of whom convincingly shape a diversity of characters, and accomplished moments such as Hugo Trebel’s fluid staging in ‘The Chalk Cross’, and Rhiannon Sommers’ Scene 9 monologue. However, of the 11 chosen playlets, the few which stick in the mind are the longer ones as these allow the audience time to engage with the script, rather than the muted staging. The shorter scenes need more theatrical variety beyond the change of accents by some of the cast, to mark their own moment.

A simple, functional set designed by Afke Laarakker twists and turns like a thread through the play and the actors transform their everyday clothes with minimal accessories. Initially, the lighting (Chuma Emembolu) invites the audience into a dim underground environment, but misses opportunities to enhance subsequent scenes. Apart from the effectual and interesting use of radio coverage and a handful of effects, the uniformity of the sound and music (score by Clifford Hughes) is lulling rather than troubling. By adding a more challenging individuality to each vignette, the scenes would weave together rather than melt into each other.

Despite the contemporary details on and off stage, this remains a play about Nazi Germany with some far-from subtle references to current affairs. As such it is a bold idea expressed through a production that feels strangely unfinished.

Reviewed by Joanna Hetherington

Photography by James Wordsworth

Tag Archives: Clark Alexander

THE NUTCRACKER

★★★★

The North Wall

THE NUTCRACKER

The North Wall

★★★★

“newcomers of all ages will enjoy this playful and imaginative production”