There's good reason why The Nutcracker has been subject to so many revisions over past decades. Below its sugar-coated plot there's still sufficient trace of the original, dark Hoffmann to tempt choreographers into recasting the ballet as a Freudian family drama or grotesque nightmare.
Few of these more adult versions survive, though, because The Nutcracker's popularity lies principally in its surface enchantment, in the gorgeous nostalgia of its Christmas festivities and its fairytale transformations. It's all about tradition, and in that regard Peter Wright's production for the Royal remains one of the best.
This is the Christmas party you want to be at. The set and costumes are ravishing, the Stahlbaum family are charming hosts, and the judicious blend of magic and realism in Wright's storytelling allows the dancers to invest their roles with an unusual degree of individuality.
Not everyone rises to it with equal effect – Christopher Saunders' Drosselmeyer has too much of the Dickensian uncle. But Gary Avis's Dr Stahlbaum comes with an intriguingly implied backstory (former military, a bit of a ladies' man), and I like Meaghan Grace Hinkis' fresh, unmannered Clara.
Outstanding are Itziar Mendizabal, who dramatises the familiar exoticism of the Arabian dance with a compelling hieratic dignity, and Cory Stearns, guesting as the Prince, whose impeccably shaped dancing is matched by impeccably mannered partnering. And if Lauren Cuthbertson isn't the most crystalline and perfect of Sugar Plum Fairies, she's one of the most alive. There's a lovely attentiveness in her reactions to the characters around her, and an equally alert musicality. Cuthbertson's dancing has a rare quality – the ability to listen. In her detailed response to the melodic sweetness and grandeur of Tchaikovsky's score, it's as though she's hearing the music for the first time.
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