“The Nutcracker on Ice” directed by Tony Mercer, for the Imperial Ice Stars, at Canberra Theatre until June 17.

THIS production is highly recommended for the whole family, but if you think it’s going to be a replica of Tchaikovsky’s famous Christmas-time ballet, forget it.

For a start, most of the cast members, drawn from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, are elite medallists in ice-skating who have been re-moulded by British director Tony Mercer into actors telling a story.

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Photos by Silas Brown.

The story? In the hands of early ballet masters Petipa and Ivanov, a dark legend about a girl who is given a novelty nutcracker doll by a mysterious godfather became a whimsical affirmation of the imagination. Now, in the hands of Mercer, it turns out to be very funny too.

Very simply, the action begins with a Christmas party reminiscent of the opening family scenes in “Anna Karenina”. But here the tipsy father (Volodymyr Khodakivskyy) can skate like a dream and remains upright and his obnoxious brat of a son (Andrei Penkin) can match him on the ice.

The innocent world of the daughter, Marie (Anastasia Ignatyeva) is interrupted by the incongruous entrance of the enigmatic Herr Drosslemeyer (Vadim Yarkov) and his eccentric assistant (Olga Sharutenko) bearing the Nutcracker soldier/prince whose purpose is, from beginning to end, shrouded in mystery.

The rest of the evening is sheer fantasy, with militant malevolent mice, brawling kids, pussycats more intent on admiring themselves than catching mice, skating snowflakes that light up and a series of famous divertissements, led by the Sugar Plum Fairy, that ultimately teach Marie how to love.

Mercer tries to bring it down to earth with a thud in the scene called “Reality Dawns”, but the soaring music of Tchaikovsky leaves you in no doubt that all is well with the world.

This “Nutcracker” whizzes by at a breathtaking pace, very different from the ballet, though not as subtle. The power and muscularity of the skaters was always evident, and applauded. Small matter that there were a couple of near-spills – they just proved how dangerous it was in reality.

Given the colourful treatment of  the set by Eamon Darcy and costumes by Elena Predvodeteleva, it was surprising to see the mechanics of flight in “Le Café from Arabia” exposed to full view. Additionally, the  famous “Waltz of the Flowers” featured some very noisy dancing-skating tulips.

But these are quibbles in a night where sporting virtuosity met high art and thrilled the audience.