NO BETTER THAN BEASTS

A vindictive brother, a cursed kingdom, a Rat King, and a nutcracker…

With one of their mothers dead and the other in Kolzechnia, the Rat King’s country of beastfolk, Drakne Zolkedna and her two brothers, Fydir and Nabik, are left to fend for themselves in Malirmatvi. As Fydir rises through the military ranks, Drakne, at the prompting of the Rat King, who knows about her dancing magic and sends her letters, finds new purpose dancing on factory floors to free the people trapped within the soul-engines of Fydir’s patron’s creation. This act of magical rebellion pits Drakne first against Fydir, who seeks to use her, and, soon enough, against Nabik, who hasn’t been able to keep her safe. As Drakne draws closer to the Rat King, Nabik, at the side of a nutcracker with claims to the throne, wrestles with loyalty to his family and the pull of his burgeoning wizardly powers. The siblings struggle with their darker impulses and deepest desires amid peppermint and gingerbread, swirling snowflakes and blazing guns. This queer retelling of The Nutcracker maintains the ballet’s ambience while expanding on and changing elements of the tale to include a land of beastfolk and snowfae standing on the precipice of technological advancement that in the wrong hands brings only suffering. Characters are cued white. Drakne is pansexual, and Nabik is gay.

An atmospheric tale of the magic of wishes and dances—and the darkness of betrayal and pain.