Gentleman Jack
Leeds Grand Theatre
★★★★☆

NORTHERN BALLET has never been a truly traditional dance company but with Gentleman Jack it’s pushed the boundaries even further. There is, after all, nothing even remotely conventional about the life of Anne Lister, who’s the subject of this world premiere.

A 19th century businesswoman who lived in Halifax, Lister was an Anglican and a Tory, and a class snob who was committed to defending land-owning privileges. She’s also been described as ‘the first modern lesbian’. Her unapologetically unconventional lifestyle was recorded in her famously coded diaries, which detailed her commercial ambitions and her romantic relationships. These writings reached a wider audience through Sally Wainwright’s highly regarded BBC/HBO drama (2019-22).

Wainwright is a creative consultant here, but artistic director Federico Bonelli and choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa have brought their own unique slant to the story. 

Central to the ballet’s success is the casting of Gemma Coutts in the title role. Dressed in top hat and tails, she radiates swagger and sensuality, asserting herself against the social and economic constraints of her time. As the story unfolds, she’s seen negotiating business deals with sceptical industrialists (led by George Liang’s Christopher Rawson), studying anatomy in Paris, and writing in her diary (conveyed through a human chorus clad in symbol covered bodysuits).

There are moments of humour, particularly when the staid family life – all synchronised tea-drinking – is torn apart by Lister’s whirlwind of energy. Yet the production’s emotional core lies in the pas de deux: first with early love Marianna (Saeka Shirai), who ultimately chooses convention over passion, and later with Ann Walker (Rachael Gillespie), whose relationship with Lister is affirmed in a symbolic wedding. 

Romantic female duets remain uncommon in classical ballet but Lopez Ochoa’s beautiful choreography leaves you wanting more. Coutts wears flat shoes rather than pointes, which gives her a sense of being grounded throughout, and if the performance lacks the “big lifts” of traditional ballet, it more than compensates with sensuality and strong characterisation.

The story is effectively brought to life by Christopher Ash’s minimal set design, which features bookcases that double as digital screens. These fluidly transport the audience from Halifax’s Shibden Hall to the salons of Paris and back again. Peter Salem’s score, which blends folk and electronic textures, is also evocative, underscoring the intimacy and the restlessness of Lister’s world.

The pacing in the second act has a minor wobble, especially in the scenes set in Paris, but the production regains momentum as it moves to position Lister as a bold, complicated and trailblazing woman. In doing so, Northern Ballet delivers a work that’s confident and quietly radical, which is a fitting tribute to a woman who refused to live by anyone else’s rules.

Runs at Leeds Grand Theatre until March 14, on tour until September 5. For dates, venues and tickets see: northernballet.com.