Short of the Week

Play
Drama Michael Aronson
ma

Nutcracker

An introverted and sexually frustrated retail clerk tries fitting in with her coworkers at the risk of losing her sense of self worth.

Play
Drama Michael Aronson
ma

Nutcracker

An introverted and sexually frustrated retail clerk tries fitting in with her coworkers at the risk of losing her sense of self worth.

Nutcracker

Directed By Michael Aronson
Made In USA

This is more than just your average coming of age story. Dynamically edited and visually arresting, Michael Aronson’s Nutcracker injects its depiction of a young woman’s mundane existence working in a sporting goods store with moments of heightened realism and fantasy. Like many teenagers struggling to find an identity for themselves, Shelly is shy and withdrawn, while her inner life is anything but. 

Aronson took inspiration from a short story by author Tia Clark, which tackled institutional misogyny and rape culture by portraying a work place where the male staff frequently indulge in a “game” where they pounce on unsuspecting female co-workers and simulate forced sex. As if this isn’t disturbing enough, the other girls at the sports store mock Shelly because she’s been working there for a year and hasn’t yet been targeted. After Miles, an older boy she works with starts to show an interest in her, Shelly’s desire for popularity, nascent sexuality and naivete lead her into increasingly dangerous territory. 

Aronson says that he was drawn to adapting the story because  “it doesn’t feel good to remain silent on one of the most pressing issues of our time, and making Nutcracker was a small way that I felt I could contribute to the conversation.” 

Nutcracker certainly offers a rich, multi-layered portal into the experience of teenage girlhood in today’s hyper-sexualized culture. Shelly and the other girls are at a vulnerable point in their lives where they feel threatened by the older boys but also desperately want to be liked by them – and each other – and measure their own self esteem through their perceived attractiveness. It’s sadly an all too familiar phenomenon. 

We were impressed by Aronson’s ability to convey Shelly’s perspective through distinctive visual flourishes and richly textured audio, and to keep us guessing about the direction the narrative would take. Colors that pop and details like Youtube videos that seems to come to life and close-ups of the eponymous “Nutcracker”, a lurid, almost glowing beverage that urban dictionary describes as a “summertime alcoholic mixed frozen drink, usually mixed by people at home and sold on the street” keep the story vibrant and urgent when it could have veered into didactic

Aronson has several other projects in the works, including Jeff is Pregnant, which follows a transgender teenager finding their place in the world. With his fresh style and ability to sensitively portray the emotional lives of seemingly very different characters, we’re looking forward to seeing more.