Crown Ballet are renowned for their fresh and invigorating takes on classic ballets (their ‘Swan Lake’ is all kinds of amazing) and at Middlesbrough Theatre in November they’re giving us ‘The Nutcracker’.

You can always tell that Christmas is approaching when that evergreen classic ‘The Nutcracker’ starts to work its magic in theatres. One of the real jewels of Tchaikovsky’s repertoire, it ushers audiences into an enchanting world of wonderments and delight. The original Christmas story is based on ‘The Nutcracker and the Mouse King’ written by E.T.A Hoffmann, and it tells the story of Marie, a sad little girl whose godfather, Drosselmeir, gives her a Nutcracker doll as a present on Christmas Eve. In her lively imagination it turns into a prince and the fun really begins… Audiences of all ages are sure to go a bundle for this.

The Nutcracker, Friday 22 November, Middlesbrough Theatre, 7.30pm, from £23.50, middlesbroughtheatre.co.uk