The egg’s stonkingly successful 2008 Christmas who ‘The Nutcracker’ is back as the centerpiece of Theatre Royal Bath’s Family Theatre Festival. Steve Wright finds out what’s made it such a hit.

It always was a Main House show really. What we’ve been doing with these Christmas shows in the egg is offering a Main House experience in a smaller, more intimate setting – but the scale of the productions has always been ambitious. Effectively, going into the Main House gives us the space that the show deserves.” Lee Lyford, the speaker, directed Hattie Naylor’s adaptation of ‘The Nutcracker’ in the egg, Theatre Royal Bath’s dedicated children’s theatre, at Christmas 2008. The show was the first in an ongoing collaboration involving Lee, Hattie, composer Paul Dodgson and designer Hayley Grindle that has also spawned stunning productions of ‘Alice Through the Looking Glass’ and last autumn’s epic ‘Ben Hur’.

The team’s ‘Nutcracker’, meanwhile – a technicolour, gothic, occasionally gruesome and gloriously eccentric take on ETA Hoffmann’s darkly fantastical folk tale – received glowing praise during its egg run. A small excerpt from our own glowing review might be in order: “A veritable chocolate box of a set and a sumptuous array of costumes which conjure everything from an eviscerated mouse to iconic mechanical toys… The second act explodes in a riot of action and hilarious visual treats, including a pitched battle against wicked mice that evokes the Crimea, a live silent movie clip and a hilarious slow-motion sequence involving a flying shoe.” Golly. Not exactly a shrinking violet of a show, then. 

At the end of that egg run, Lee recalls, “the sheer scale of the show meant that it was too big to go to most children’s venues, but I always hoped that it would have another life.” Thankfully, props and costumes were kept on the off-chance of a revival – and they’ve spent the intervening years in a vast storage facility in West Sussex. “What happens to the props and costumes after a show really depends on each production, and whether a revival looks likely,” Lee explains. “We felt this show had been something quite special, so we held onto everything in the hope that it would see the light of day again.

“On both a professional and a personal level, ‘The Nutcracker’ is a show close to my heart. There’s lots of me – of all of us – in it. It has a lot of what we’re all about as a team.” Specifically? “It’s dark but also hugely entertaining, it’s layered… and it’s scary, and takes risks. The kind of show I would have loved to see as a child. A show to grip children and adults.”

Hattie’s ‘Nutcracker’ script was originally commissioned for Radio 4 in 2004, and first broadcast at Christmas that year (incidentally, her most recent play – ‘Ivan and the Dogs’, first seen as a scratch performance, directed by Lee, at Bristol Old Vic – has just been nominated for the prestigious Olivier Awards). More than the Tchaikovsky ballet – although it does feature a live score, performed by Dodgson and cellist Sarah Moody – Hattie’s version was inspired by Hoffmann’s original tale. “Hoffmann was a master of the gothic, and his original tale reflects all the richness and magic of a good Tim Burton film,” she notes.

Hoffmann’s story is based around a gang of vengeful gangster mice led by the evil Mauseylink, who puts a curse on baby Princess Pirlipat, turning her head into a ghastly, staring, wooden nutcracker. Only the affable, eccentric Dr Drosselmeyer can find the nut that can break the spell. Or can he? “It’s all about a big emotional journey, really,” says Hattie. “A ‘rites of passage’ romp, with lots of quirky, unexpected twists and turns. There’s magic, toys, snow, screams, songs, dancing, laughter and a little bit of blood and gore.”

Blood and gore, eh? How much of this stuff can younger audiences take, Lee? “I think they can deal with quite a lot. You have to be careful what age you’re marketing a show at, and this is recommended for ages six and above. But if children are going to learn about fear, the theatre’s one of the safest places for them to learn it. I think it’s important, in terms of storytelling, that children experience those fears in a safe way. And there’s nothing gratuitous about the darkness and the violence – it’s just a genuinely dark tale. As with anything really scary, it’s more implied than performed – it plays on our nightmares. Certainly, the last time we did it, children loved it and we had no complaints.

“As a child I loved being scared: ghost stories and films always stayed with me, and they became the kinds of shows I wanted to put on. I think the trick is to go for a gothic, exaggerated feel, and to have a lot of fun with it. We talk a lot as a team about having all the tonal elements there for a family show. So you have some elements that are very beautiful, others that are scary, loving, funny etc. We try and get all the spectrum of human experience into the show – while, always, offering a feast for the eyes.”

THE NUTCRACKER WAS AT THEATRE ROYAL BATH IN FEB AS PART OF THE FAMILY THEATRE FESTIVAL. FOR REVIEW, CLICK HERE.
 

Copyright Steve Wright 2011

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