Mia Heathcote, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud
Clara
A brave and kind young ballet student who is fascinated by a Nutcracker doll gifted to her on Christmas Eve by Drosselmeyer. In E.T.A Hoffmann’s fairytale, Clara is called Marie.
Meet the Characters: The Nutcracker
Principal Artist Joseph Caley with Mia Heathcote, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud
Magic and mayhem abound in Sir Peter Wright's The Nutcracker.
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Written by
Heather Bloom
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Published on
06 Dec 2024
There are many versions of E.T.A Hoffmann’s classic tale The Nutcracker and the Mouse King that exist within the ballet realm. From Marius Petipa’s 19th century original to Graeme Murphy’s more contemporary, Nutcracker - The Story of Clara, each adaptation possesses its own unique narrative elements, choreography and characters.
Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker takes a more traditional approach albeit with some additional characters and moments not featured in the original tale. Meet some of the mysterious, the magic and the marvellous characters of Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker.
Principal Artist Callum Linnane, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2024
Photo Daniel Boud
Drosselmeyer
A Magician invited to entertain the children at the Christmas Eve party of Dr Stahlbaum and Mrs Stahlbaum. Drosselmeyer is the one to give Clara the Nutcracker doll which mysteriously mends itself after being broken by Clara’s younger brother Fritz.
Nathan Brook and artists of The Australian Ballet, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2019
Photo Daniel Boud
The Nutcracker
A magical Nutcracker doll that comes to life to protect Clara from the Rat King.
Rohan Furnell, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2019
Photo Daniel Boud
The Rat King
The mischievous leader of an army of Rats who battles Clara and the Nutcracker Prince.
Ballet Bite
The Sugar Plum Fairy character doesn’t exist in the original short story, she was invented by Petipa to meet 19th-century ballet trends and audience expectations that there be a “ballerina role”.
Principal Artist Sharni Spencer, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2019
Photo Daniel Boud
Sugar Plum Fairy
The Sugar Plum Fairy is the ruler of the Land of Sweets. A graceful ballerina, she also represents Clara as an adult when her dreams of becoming a dancer are realised.
Principal Artist Brett Chynoweth, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2019
Photo Lynette Wills
Prince
The human version of the Nutcracker doll. In Peter Wright’s version, The Prince is Hans-Peter, the nephew of Drosselmeyer who has been cursed by the wicked Queen of the Mice and transformed into a Nutcracker Doll.
Ballet Bite
In Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker, the only way Hans-Peter can break the spell and return to his human form is to defeat the Rat King through an act of bravery and find true love in spite of his cursed appearance.
Aya Watanabe, Yuumi Yamada and Sophie Morgan, The Nutcracker (Wright) 2019
Photo Kate Longley
Mirlitons
The Mirlitons appear in Act II in the Sugar Plum Fairy’s Land of Sweets. While the word means both a squash-like vegetable native to Mexico and a small flute-like instrument, it is also a popular cake/biscuit in France.
While I would love to see a trio of squashes dancing to Waltz of the Mirlitons in an alternate reality Nutcracker, it makes more sense that these characters reference a type of French pastry often enjoyed at Christmastime.
The Nutcracker plays at Sydney Opera House from 30 November to 18 December 2024