Gentleman Jack, Northern Ballet, review by Amy Stone
‘Will the cast be signing autographs?!’ I ask breathlessly at the interval, already regretting the fact I haven’t brought any lipstick with me and therefore wouldn’t get a great selfie if I did, in fact, manage to pose with the cast of Gentleman Jack, Northern Ballet’s phenomenal new production which tells the story of Anne Lister – a nineteenth century Yorkshire woman who lived and loved as she desired. Often referred to as ‘the first modern lesbian’, Anne Lister’s diaries were discovered and decoded in the 1980s by Halifax-based writer Helena Whitbread. Anne became a legendary figure as someone who ‘lived unapologetically as herself in a world set up to constrain her’, writes the ballet’s Artistic Director Federico Bonelli.
Gemma Coutts (Anne Lister), Rachael Gillespie (Ann Walker) and Saeka Shirai (Mariana Lawton) play the three female leads on the evening I’m attending in this production that breaks traditional gender roles in ballet. The dancers comment in the programme notes about the difference this makes in partnering, saying they have found ‘a whole new vocabulary that feels sensual and connected’ and this absolutely comes across to the audience. One of the production’s great strengths is its ability to shift between this tender intimacy in these pas de deux scenes and the phenomenal solo power of Anne as she commands the stage in business, polite society and globe-trotting.
The collaboration with the Finnish National Opera and Ballet has enabled this production to enjoy a live musical accompaniment, something that has been sadly missing since the Northern Ballet’s Sinfonia was replaced with prerecorded music in 2024, following cuts to funding. You can’t underestimate the difference that live music makes to a production like this and the orchestra were exceptional.
Anne Lister is a flawed character – impatient, controlling, deeply classist. But she is also one of the first examples of a woman who successfully defied gender norms and she remains an inspiration to this day, with her former home at Shibden Hall a place of modern pilgrimage for queer culture. Sally Wainwright, who adapted Lister’s diaries for the BBC series Gentleman Jack, is the Creative Consultant for this ballet and it shares the same vivacious energy. Choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa had never heard of Lister before she was approached with the ballet, but after binge-watching the series, she said yes. It’s altogether irresistible. Did I get my autographs? No, because, the PR kindly explained to me, they had a matinee the next day and would be absolutely exhausted. I completely respect that. But just to warn you, Northern Ballet, with this beautiful, sexy masterpiece, there will be many more people wanting autographs, and you have made Timothee Chalamet look like even more of a chump. Bravo.
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