Review: ENB NUTCRACKER, London Coliseum

If your festive wish-list includes being whisked away to a land of shimmering magic and charming story-telling, ENB have the ideal antidote to the winter drizzle outside with the first revival of their version of Nutcracker that debuted last year. Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smit bring a welcome change from the confused storytelling of Wayne Eagling's previous iteration, with a sugary delight of a show.

While shopping for sweets for a Christmas Eve party, Clara falls in love with an enchanted Nutcracker doll at Drosselmeyer's Emporium of Sweets & Delights. As night falls, Clara dreams of an adventure in which she bravely defends her Nutcracker from the Rat King before discovering a land made of ice and the Sugar Plum Fairy.

The coming-of age story of Clara is much clearer here; the child-version (played by delightful Delilah Wiggins on my viewing) is spirited and innocent, growing in to a curious young woman who is discovering new worlds and falling in love for the first time.

Fabian Reimair is an ebullient Willy Wonka-like figure as Drosselmeyer, presiding over an a host of clever illusions, including taking an enormous teddy bear out of a very small box. James Streeter is underused, but has fun with the energy of the Rat King, who Clara bravely slays with a sword.

Katja Khaniukova is a delightful adult Clara, accompanied by Miguel Angel Maidana, as the Nutcracker Prince. Their pas de deux features some lovely, well-executed and solid lifts, but it is a shame their footwork is hidden by swathes of dry ice at the start, which meant you often couldn’t view their footwork.

Watkin’s Grand pas de deux for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier is very reminiscent Lev Ivanov’s 1892 original choreography. It looks great – and is danced with panache, and confidence by an very elegant Emma Hawes and the ever-reliable Aitor Arrieta.

Anna Nevzorova’s Ice Queen has lovely sharpness to her movements, surrounded by a host of beautiful dancing icicles and snowflakes.

The production goes in hard on the references to sweet treats and candy colours, with designer Dick Bird giving us gorgeously rich and detailed sets and costumes. The introduction of Edwardian London looks a delight, with dancing chinmey sweeps and suffragettes with golden gas lights and St Paul's in the background. The Land of Snow is now the Ice Realm, full of glittering, icy shards and the Waltz of the Flowers is renamed Buttercream Roses. There's even a sleigh pulled by an ice-carved seahorse.

The Land of Sweet Treats, as it now known, can throw up some problematic stereotypes and has been thoughtfully updated to represent national sweet things from various countries. We have Spanish Turrón and Ukrainian poppyseed rolls (replacing the usual Russian Dance), where Rentaro Nakaaki’s energetic splits impressed. The Arabian Dance, here the milky Arabic drink Sahlab has Minju Kang’s long, frothy sleeves flowing as she almost overflows from a giant cup. Liquorice Allsorts are a particular highlight, where very young dancers totter around, along with Thiago Silva’s energetic Bertie Bassett-like character.

The costuming is wonderfully over-the-top, with gorgeous detailing, such as skirts shaped like upside-down paper cupcake cases and headdresses like cinnamon sticks. The corps de ballet are treated to glittering and delicate costumes which look ethereal and dazzling to watch.

A few things do not work; the magical growing Christmas tree is a non-event and the Rat King and his followers have little menace in their movements or their staid costumes. Act II opens with a poor quality CGI projection of the ice sleigh flying over mountains, which adds little. However, an ebullient Maria Seletskaja conducts the English National Ballet Philharmonic with vigour and propulsion, giving great energy and pace to Tchaikovsky's magical score.

This is a charming and magical first revival of a show that deserves to be seen for years to come.

Nutcracker is at the London Coliseum until 11 January 2026