Firm festive family favourite The Nutcracker offers plenty of magic and sparkle as it takes audiences young and old on a series of enchanting adventures. 
Newcastle-under-Lyme’s New Vic Theatre is this Christmas presenting a version of the story that blends drama with dance and promises to delight. The venue’s artistic director, Theresa Heskins explains what theatre-goers can expect from the show...  

The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme is promising families and schools a truly special theatrical experience this festive season, courtesy of its very own production of The Nutcracker.
Adapted and helmed by the theatre’s artistic director, Theresa Heskins, the brand-new show - subtitled A Christmas Fairytale - brings together drama, music and magic to conjure up a series of enchanting adventures.
In order to create a new work for audiences of all ages, Theresa has gone back to the original Nutcracker fairytale, written by Prussian author ETA Hoffman, and blended it with elements of Tchaikovsky’s hugely popular ballet.
“It’s an amazing story about Christmas,” says Theresa, “and about the toys under the Christmas tree, and the fairy at the top of the tree coming to life. They have an adventure to protect Christmas from the Mouse Queen, who wants to eat all the sweets.”
The story sees youngster Marie taking on the rogue rodent with the help of some familiar characters, including the Nutcracker doll and the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Theresa’s inspiration for the sweet-grabbing Mouse Queen came from her own life, when she discovered that mice have a taste for chocolate...
“My little brother is a real chocolate fiend. I was clearing up his room and discovered that a mouse had run riot and eaten all his chocolate. And it had even nibbled anything the chocolate had been near, such as his i-pad case. 
“I realised then just how much mice love chocolate! So our idea is that the baubles which are hanging on the Christmas tree are handmade gingerbread and chocolate, and the Mouse Queen just finds all of that irresistible - and she will destroy Christmas by destroying the Christmas tree.
“Our Mouse Queen, played by Kaitlin Howard, is six foot tall and an amazing fighter - so this is a quite seriously dangerous mouse that we’ve got on stage here!”
While the production features some of Tchaikovsky’s much-loved music, it is very much a drama rather than a ballet, says Theresa.
“This has a lot more plot, which comes from the book. It’s a proper play, and it’s an adventure. There’s loads of fighting in it and also a lot of dancing - we’re still honouring its existence as a ballet - but it’s got a clear story and characters and dialogue.
“We have three musicians - and some of the cast are musicians as well - so we’ll be recreating that music, and we’re really excited about that. Faz Shah is our musical director and a really talented lead violinist. James Atherton, who is adapting and directing the music, is collaborating closely with his friend Tchaikovsky to create slightly edited music - but anybody who loves the music or the ballet will find all their most precious moments intact and celebrated.
“We’re hoping that it will work for people of all ages, as our Christmas shows always do. We have really tiny children coming in and people through the generations - right up to quite elderly people who are coming along with their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Families often come together, and our Christmas show becomes a family event which they will often come back to year after year.”
The production also includes a sprinkling of fairy dust. “We’re always big on magic, and Christmas is our favourite time of year. We’re a theatre-in-the-round, so it’s often quite tricky to make magic work here, but we work really hard at Christmas to bring something quite extraordinary to the space. 
“So we bring some magic to make the tree grow, and we also have a character from the book, Uncle Drosselmeyer, who’s a magician. And then there are all sorts of other wonders and treats, like how we make it snow inside so it will be 110 per cent Christmas.
“The theatre-in-the-round is a unique experience. It’s so alive, and what you see opposite you is other members of the audience. It’s a very live event, and your imagination is part of that.” 
The New Vic team create a different Christmas production each year, with recent offerings including versions of Alice In Wonderland, The Prince And The Pauper and The Snow Queen. Running for approximately two months, the festive show is always a winner with local audiences.
“About one in 10 people from across the Potteries come to our Christmas show every single year. So it feels like a huge responsibility - but also a very special gift that we’re able to make for the people of the area - to create this very special thing that has become so many people’s Christmas tradition.
“It’s always a very lovely show. It’s not panto; it’s a proper piece of theatre that all the family can come to and hopefully be inspired by for the rest of their lives. So many families are dispersed, but they come back to see each other at Christmas, and one of the things we offer is the opportunity for a family to come and do something Christmassy together.”
The theatre’s festive show is also a big draw for local schools, whose children are invited to go beyond the stage experience and discover more about the story.
“About two-thirds of our shows are for school groups. We ask them to engage with the ideas beforehand by making a work of art for our exhibition space that is then exhibited all through the run. We have workshops and a fantastic pack for them to be engaged in, too.
“They will come right from reception class. Sometimes a whole school comes for a Christmas treat, and it’s so special to see all those young people enjoying a piece of theatre. For some of them, it will be the first theatre they’ve seen in their lives, and that’s fabulous; to think that forever after they will feel that the theatre is a place which will welcome them and where they can enjoy being.
“We absolutely make sure that the experience is the most magical and will give them memories for years to come.”

Diane Parkes