The Nutcracker at the Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells Review

Reviewed by Louise Watts

When I think of the theatre at Christmas time, two things spring to my mind – pantomime and The Nutcracker. With two ballet mad children in my house, Christmas would not be Christmas without a trip to the theatre to see a performance of The Nutcracker.

Last evening, myself and my three daughters aged 14 years, 12 years and 9 years visited the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells to see The Nutcracker performed by the Russian State Ballet and Opera House. The theatre was absolutely packed out. There was barely an empty seat in sight. With a capacity of just over 1000, this is quite an achievement. Clearly many other people and their families feel the same about Christmas as I do and had come along with their families to get in the Christmas spirit.

The Assembly Hall Theatre is very well equipped, and the staff are always polite and willing to help in any way that they can. The bar was very busy due to the sheer number of people who were there, but the staff coped very well, and queuing was kept to a minimum. Parking was easy in the multi storey car park just a couple of minutes’ walk from the theatre. There is a standard evening rate of £1.50 which is very reasonable.

We took our seats around 5 minutes before the performance commenced and it was a nice surprise to be able to see the orchestra on our level. There were well over 30 musicians in the orchestra and their performance really was out of this world. They opened with a musical introduction and then the performance began. As soon as they started, you felt Christmassy. With the Christmas tree setting on stage and everyone having a good time, it was impossible not to be sucked in to the feeling of delight that is Christmas.

The story of The Nutcracker is beautiful. You meet Clara and get swept into a Winter Wonderland of dancing snowflakes, the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara’s handsome Prince. The dancing is outstanding, and I am simply in awe at how they can perform some of the ballet steps. It is lovely to see both men and women performing such delicate steps with precision and skill. Every time I looked at my children, they were transfixed on the dancers and the incredible skill they have. My personal favourite dance was the dance of the snowflakes with “real” snow. I particularly like the dances where lots of dancers are choreographed to perform the same moves as it demonstrates how perfect the timing is when everyone executes the same move at the same time.

At the interval, I turned to my children to say we would go and get a drink and my 12-year-old just looked at me and said “Wow”. I think that says it all really. My 9-year-old struggled a little with the storyline, but I think that is simply due to her age and nothing to do with how the story was portrayed.

The set was simple but beautiful and worked perfectly with the story. The costumes were as you would expect for a ballet of this standard. The whole evening was an absolute delight and I am extremely pleased to have been given the opportunity to review this and to take my children with me in the build up to Christmas.

The running time for the ballet was about 2 hours including an interval which meant that even for the younger members of the audience, there was still the chance to get home at a reasonable time.

I would thoroughly recommend this ballet to everyone who enjoys a feel good Christmassy show and who has a love for ballet. A truly beautiful performance from start to finish, guaranteed to put you in the Christmas mood.

Rating: 5/5

For other shows at the Assembly Hall Theatre in Tunbridge Wells visit www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk.

Assembly Hall Theatre, Crescent Rd, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2LU | 01892 530613