Nutcracker!
Characters PowerPoint
The characters in Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! are all much larger
than life in both worlds and every character is unique, even the
orphans in their grey smocks and shorts.
Bourne says; ‘one of the pleasures of creating these
characters was to link them with their orphanage
counterparts. In Clara’s imagination her friends become
the fluffy Marshmallow girls, the yobby Gobstopper
boys, the vain Liquorice Allsort trio and the lewd and
sticky Knickerbocker Glory. Her best friends, the
twins, become her heavenly helpers, The Cupids. Dr
and Mrs Dross transform into the gluttonous rulers of
Sweetieland, King Sherbet and Queen Candy, and their
bratish children, Sugar and Fritz, grow up into the
glamorous Princess Sugar and saucy Prince Bon Bon.
Everything is edible in Sweetieland and its inhabitants
are judged not by how they look but by how they taste.’
We are going to look at each character
through there costume, dance
movements, music and lighting.
Copy up the table below on a whole
side of A4 paper
Character
Costume
Dance
Movements
Music
Lighting
Costumes
DESCRIBE COSTUMES using these words … allowing and
restricting movement, cost, formal, flow, line, size, weight,
colour, texture, decoration.
CONTIBUTIONS OF COSTUME
 Mood and Atmosphere
 Era
 Social setting
 Historical setting
 Sense of Place
 Sense of Time
 Event
 Location
 Character/Role
 Season
 Gender
 Groups of Dancers
 Status
 Theme of Dance
Physical Setting Points
Describe Set, Lighting & Props
 Colour
 Shape
 Size & Location
 Style
 Texture
 Mood
Other Considerations
 Cost
 Durability
 Ease of dancing
 Health and Safety
 Size of Space
It’s really important to DESCRIBE the set, lighting and props in
each example that you discuss
Physical Setting Points – Magic List
Physical Setting Contributions
 Support the dance style
 Provide a context
 Provide a sense of reality
 Create interest
 Can replace dancer - support
 Time of day / Season
 Establishes mood
 Props help identify character
 Can provide a climax
 Setting the dance in an era
 Can provide exits and entrances
 Geographical location
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Creates social context
Light/set can structure dance
Props can inspire movement
Lighting can highlight
Set creates shape and levels
Add texture
Compliments other components
Can clarify narrative
Can show changes in time
Add to the theme of the dance
Add humor
Add variety through set and lighting
changes
Always Remember to Include Examples
Clara
The Nutcracker
 The Nutcracker full-size puppet is an interesting and
challenging character to portray because of his strong
physicality. His movements are stilted, his gaze fixed and his
joints are stiff.
The Frozen Lake
Cupids
Dr Dross who becomes King Sherbet
Matron who becomes Queen Candy
Fritz who becomes Prince Bon Bon
Sugar who becomes Princess Sherbet
The Head Banging Gobstoppers
This trio of boys come on stage wearing doc martens
and crash helmets. Their outfits enhance their actions
and movements.
Knickerbocker Glory
Liquorice Allsorts
The Marshmallow Girls
Humbug Bouncer
Nutcracker! Example answers
Set/lighting helps create
contrast
 The contrast between the dark colours in set and
Lighting establishes mood
 The brightness and soft colours used create a
lighting of the workhouse and colour of
Sweetieland
magical and fun feel to Act 2
Set creates varied
levels/platforms
 The wedding cake creates different levels for the
The set creates exits and
entrances
 Dancers enter through doors in side flats, upstage
dancers
window and mouth into Sweetieland