LOOK INSIDE: Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet)

All photos by Scott Pakudaitis and courtesy of Interact.

A sure sign of the March on Christmas (not to be confused with the War on Christmas) is the opening of The Nutcracker at a theatre near you. Somehow, somewhere, even if you find a new way of living, a Nutcracker will always be there come December. Or, the way that Christmas music starts playing after Halloween some places, sometimes before Thanksgiving has come and gone. [Editor’s note: The Twin Cities Arts Reader opposes all forms of Christmas music, decoration, and eggnog distribution until Thanksgiving night at the very earliest.]

But what to do if sugar plum fairies have come a little too frequently and the Chinese dance is no longer your thing? Depending on your tastes, you might end up with a Slutcracker (a burlesque satire), innumerable parodies, and…Edgar Allan Poe + banjo? If you’re confused about that last connection, take a look at these pictures from the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts performance of Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet):

Do you have any idea what this ball is about?

Tutus are all the rage in village fashion.

Hopfrog and Tripetta, a pair of wanderers, show off at a village they visit. The beatings may continue until the applause is acceptable.

I am a raven and I'm not afraid to quoth. — I am a raven and I’m not afraid to quoth.

Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet) plays November 21 to December 19, 2015 at the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts performance of Edgar Allan Poe’s Nutcracker (the un-ballet).