Anne Lister. Born 1791, died 1840. Yorkshirewoman. Diarist. Businesswoman. Landowner. A woman who lived life on her own terms, and who loved how and who she wanted. For anyone who hadn’t already heard of her, she was made famous in the 2010s by the BBC, which cemented her status as the ‘first modern lesbian’, but there is so much more to her than just her sexuality.
In this brand new, 100-minute ballet (with interval) we get to know Anne as a woman who forged her own path in society. From the moment the curtain rises to reveal Anne (danced at this performance by Gemma Coutts) in a striking tailored jacket surrounded by a homogeneous group of male contemporaries, she demands your complete attention. The ballet follows the story of her life as she falls in love, gets her heart broken, faces varying degrees of opposition and success as a landowner and businesswoman, and faces up to the consequences of her choices.
As unique as Anne Lister’s story is, this ballet is unique also. It is a ballet with three female leads: Anne (Coutts) and her two lovers, Mariana Lawton and Ann Walker, danced respectively by Saeka Shirai and Rachael Gillespie. Among other challenges, this means that the woman dancing the role of Anne Lister requires different partnering skills than in any traditional female ballet role. All three women should be commended for their skill, their attention to detail and their storytelling. Coutts in particular draws the eye whenever she is on stage, and her playful interactions with Gillespie in Act 2 were a real highlight.
The choreography by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa is exceptional throughout. There is clear delineation between moments of lyrical, fluid intimacy when Anne is dancing with a female lover, moments of almost combative and staccato movement when portraying the expectation of heteronormative partnerships, and moments of inwardly focused power and strength when Anne moves with an entirely different language of movement than others in the male-dominated society in which she seeks to operate. Keep an eye out, too, for the moment in which Anne embraces her femininity; this was a beautiful detail included quietly and without comment, thus revealing yet another layer to Anne’s character.
The sublime score composed by Peter Salem also provides the main characters and settings with their own musical identity. The varying swells of the music enhanced my existing investment in the storytelling, and sections of the music in which Anne is at odds with the world were rightly discordant and allowed me, even enabled me, to feel uncomfortable at key moments.
The storytelling throughout was extremely powerful, which is credit to every single dancer on the stage, as well as Artistic Director Federico Bonelli, dramaturg Clare Croft and consultants Jemima Brown and Sally Wainright. The use of video panels on a blank set gave the audience an indication of location and set the scene without being overpowering. This clever device by designer Christopher Ash, coupled with his lighting design and the costume design by Louise Flanagan, meant that with just simple props and only one or two backdrops we were quickly and easily transported from Shibden Hall, to the Yorkshire moors, business boardrooms and the streets and theatres of Paris.
Particular mention must be made too of the use of the dancers as the ‘Chorus of Words’. The power of words in forming and maintaining relationships, in chronicling history and in identity cannot be underestimated in this story, in Anne’s life, and beyond.
Gentleman Jack is exceptional ballet from start to finish. It doesn’t shy away from the complexity of Anne Lister as a character – perfectly balancing her authenticity, power and vulnerabilities. This is ballet at its finest, using modern technologies and dance forms to tell a 19th century story in a way that is accessible, even to those unfamiliar with this story, or indeed the dance form of ballet.
Gentleman Jack continues at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield until Saturday 4th April. More details and ticket information can be found on the website: https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/. The ballet then continues on tour around England until 5th September 2026. Tour information can be found here: https://www.northernballet.com/.
Reviewer: Jo Tillotson
Reviewed: 31st March 2026
North West End UK Rating: