Royal Ballet: The Nutcracker

Live stream from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden

Thu 9 Dec 7.15pm      Book Now

Duration: 140 mins
AGE Rating: Suitable for 5+
Adults £15
Seniors £12.50
Under 18s £10

The Royal Opera House launches its new international Cinema Season after 16 months of closure, with Peter Wright’s spectacular production of The Nutcracker. A festive favourite for the whole family, it was created for The Royal Ballet in 1984, and has delighted audiences ever since.

Loosely based on the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the ballet begins in the 19th-century German home of the Stahlbaums, where they are hosting a lively Christmas party. The period setting is captured in opulent detail by Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs, which include authentic Christmas tree decorations that are magically brought to life. Wright’s choreography ingeniously incorporates surviving fragments of the ballet’s original material, including the sublime pas de deux for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince. But in emphasizing the relationship between Clara and the Nutcracker, the production also gains a touching subtext of first love.