Northern Ballet: Gentlemen Jack Review | The Lowry | Manchester
- Frances
- Jun 5
- 2 min read
Northern Ballet are aiming to make the Lowry audience blush with the titillating reimagining of Anne Lister’s 1820-30 diary entries. Recapturing Anne’s enlightening thoughts, desires and fantasies by streamlining her five-million-word diaries into a time-jumping ballet that spotlights the most explosive moments of her adventurous life.
Refusing to dilute or diminish her physical and mental prowess, the Yorkshire woman described as the “first modern lesbian” hits the stage for an ambitious retelling of a life climbing the social ranks with trips abroad, work expansions and women of status. Blending her life with Ann Walker and her relationship with Mariana Lawton, the show tells of her passionate love affairs and Britain’s first recorded lesbian wedding.
Overlooking her Shibden Hall estate in Halifax, Northern Ballet’s production offers a romantic and minimalist direction of the suited, top hat and tail wearing Anne. Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s choreography dramatises Anne’s love of work and women with stunning moves that highlight Anne’s commanding presence and precision. Gemma Coutts is enthralling to watch as Anne, building chemistry with Saeka Shirai (Mariana) in a mischievously slick scene where the two romp under the nose of her suitor. The production builds powerful solos for Coutts to showcase her ambitious and authoritarian nature, attempting to have it all with secret trysts, long-time lovers, and a ruthless approach to business.
While Anne’s original diaries, parts of which were coded in Ancient Greek, were transcribed by historians and volunteers, Louise Flanagan’s costume design and Christopher Ash’s set design extend and integrate her work through intricate fashion and visuals. Using Anne’s obsessive eye for detail, her words are projected onto the Lowry floor, alongside code sprawled across the ensemble's costumes, allowing her original work to float throughout the production. Flanagan’s 1830s styling reels you into the repressed society Anne lived and the expressive world she built. The majority of the colour largely comes from the women in Anne’s life, showcasing colourful pleats and corsets, whilst the smooth-moving Anne’s playful side is revealed through the women surrounding her, encouraging more suggestive moves.
Anne does not appear to be a whimsical character built for ballet, but her direct and forceful solos quickly morph into heartfelt pas de deux, all backed by an original score composed by Peter Salem. The second act brings her lover Ann Walker (Rachael Gillespie), another wealthy heiress twelve years her junior, to feature in the last leg of her short 49-year life. Breaking out of a tangled web of lovers and haters, jumping financial hurdles and overcoming barriers to be together, Northern Ballet has made light work of this remarkable woman whose words translate beautifully into dance.
Anne’s relentless life of abundance has been meticulously written, but her work has proven to shape-shift into multiple genres. Northern Ballet’s production is the perfect companion piece to her work and is made richer if you are already familiar with Anne Lister’s history. For those who aren’t, this ballet will spark your intrigue into the legend of Gentleman Jack.
Tickets are available via the Lowry link