Please read Understanding catalogue records for help interpreting this information and Using footage for more information about accessing this film.

Title: NUTCRACKER, the

Reference number: 12314

Date: 1982c

Sound: mute

Colour: bwcol

Fiction: fiction

Running time: 111.51 mins

Description: A recording of The Scottish Ballet performing The Nutcracker at The Playhouse in Edinburgh. At the beginning of the tape there is a shot of a programme with the title and location. The exact date is illegible, but this programme matches those in the Scottish Theatre Archive for 1982.

This particular video recording is silent. Act One is in colour while Act Two is black and white.

The set in this production differs to those used in other Peter Darrell productions of The Nutcracker. The second act features a gold tinsel backdrop.

See also refs. 10915, 10916, 12315, 12333

'After a sumptuous Christmas Party, little Clara falls asleep and dreams that she helps the Nutcracker Prince to defeat an army of giant mice. She is rewarded by a visit to the Land of Snow and the Realm of the Sugar-Plum Fairy.' (Scottish Theatre Archive reference: STA SB 12/25a)

In Act Two of The Nutcracker, Clara has helped the Nutcracker Prince defeat the Army of the Mice and has been rewarded by a visit to the Land of the Snow Queen and is invited to the realm of the Sugar Plum Fairy.

First Performance: 18 December 1892 at the Marinsky Theatre, St Petersburg.

The Scottish Theatre Archive holds material relating to this production:
The Nutcracker. King's Theatre, Edinburgh, 1975 August 6-9. Programme. Call number: STA SB 12/25a
The Nutcracker. Playhouse, Edinburgh, 1982 January 6. Programme. Call number: STA SB 1/31.

Please note this is a copy of the raw capture of the original analogue video for preservation and as such may display defects such as dropout, washed out colour and sound fluctuation.

Credits: Choreographer: Peter Darrell and Lev Ivanov
Scenario: After Marius Petipa
Composer: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Arranged for Small Orchestra by Leonard Salzedo
Designer: Philip Prowse
Lighting: John B. Read

Shotlist: [Tape 1]
Act One: (00.41-47.27)
Prologue: The Christmas Party / Clara's Dream
The Palace of Ice and Snow

Act Two: 0.08-47.51 (the recording begins mid-action)
The Realm of the Sugar-Plum Fairy

Curtain call: 48.01-50.58


Act I

The Colonel and his wife are giving a party on Christmas Eve for their two children, Clara and Fritz. Friends and family arrive at the house including the children’s uncle and their eccentric old aunts, Angelina and Caterina. Soon the room is filled with delighted faces as the Christmas tree is revealed and the children receive their presents.

However, the mood is suddenly transformed with the arrival of a mysterious magician, Drosselmeyer. With him are three entertainers that have come to the party to perform for the children. Drosselmeyer has brought Clara a very special Christmas present: a strange nutcracker in the shape of a handsome Prince, which Clara immediately adores. Excitedly, the children dance round the room with their new toys, but Fritz breaks Clara’s nutcracker. An uncle quickly mends it and Clara wipes away her tears.

After the party, the servants dim the lights and put out the candles on the Christmas tree, plunging the room into an eerie darkness.


Act II

Unable to sleep, Clara creeps back into the darkened room to find her nutcracker. She falls asleep on the floor, clutching the nutcracker in her arms. As the clock chimes midnight, Clara wakes with a start to find giant mice running around her. Drosselmeyer mysteriously reappears and transforms Clara’s nutcracker into a real live handsome prince, who leads the toy soldiers into battle with the mice and their leader, the evil King Rat.

Clara strikes a fatal blow to King Rat and the battle is won. As a reward, Drosselmeyer sends Clara and the Prince on a wonderful journey. They travel to an enchanting land of ice and snow, where they meet the beautiful Snow Queen and the Snowflake Fairies. The Prince dances with the Snow Queen and Clara is surrounded by the dancing Snowflake Fairies. The Snow Queen gives Clara her sleigh and the everybody waves goodbye as her journey with the Prince continues.

[synopsis courtesy of Scottish Ballet]