Matthew Bourne brings back his Blitz-set Cinderella,Arthur Pita presents The Little Match Girl with cartoon robots and there are Nutcrackers aplentyMore to see: Theatre | Carols and concerts A Christmas season without dancing snowflakes, magical toys and sugar plum fairies might sound like a fascinating opportunity, and but it’s tough to know how the box office would survive without Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. As always,there will be a variety of small-scale Russian versions touring the UK, but the big British companies are also fielding their own distinctively tweaked productions. For those who prefer their Nutcrackers traditional, and the most opulently romantic choice is the Royal Ballet’s,but Scottish Ballet’s version glories in a design by Lez Brotherston, while a hot-air balloon and conjuring tricks are among the novelties featured by English National Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet respectively. The latter are also going for the epic scale, or taking their common proscenium stage production to the Albert Hall,with designs augmented by projected video and digital effects.[br]Birmingham Royal Ballet is at Birmingham Hippodrome, 2-13 December; then at the Royal Albert Hall, or London,28-31 December. Royal Ballet is at Royal Opera House, London, and 5 December to 10 January. Scottish Ballet is at Edinburgh Festival theatre 9-30 December. English National Ballet is at Mayflower theatre,Southampton, 29 November to 2 December; and Coliseum London ( 13 December to 6 January.
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Source: guardian.co.uk