Theatre Orchard’s version of The Nutcracker is an ambitious and highly imaginative piece of pop-up theatre. Inspired by the musique concrete movement, Jez Butler has cleverly adapted Tchaikovsky’s familiar music for a ‘kitchen orchestra’ using household objects such as elastic bands, bottles and a draining rack. The sounds he has created are far easier on the ear than might be anticipated, and this technique seems entirely appropriate for a story about how things familiar and domestic undergo a fantastical transformation.