The Nutcracker at Arts Centre Melbourne State Theatre

Clara, a young ballet student, is celebrating Christmas with her family. Her uncle, the magician Drosselmeyer, gives her a nutcracker doll – and when the clock strikes twelve, dreams and magic are unleashed, the doll becomes a prince and Clara is whisked away to fantastical lands.

Peter Wright’s production of The Nutcracker is considered the world’s most beautiful, with bewitching sets and costumes by John Macfarlane. All the delights of a traditional Nutcracker – the Christmas tree that grows to towering heights, the flying goose, the Sugar Plum Fairy, the rats, the sweets – are gloriously present, with some extra treats like a Rose Fairy and Jack-in-the-Box thrown in. Macfarlane’s design moves from a richly crimson Edwardian home to the sparkling Land of Snow to the vivid Land of Sweets in a series of breathtaking transformations that will have you oohing-and-ahhing along with the kids.