Jack Studio Theatre – until 19 February
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
4****
The journals of Anne Lister and her unconventional life lay unread for a century in her home at Shibden Hall. Their re-emergence led to this remarkable woman being hailed as “the first modern lesbian”. Ross McGregor’s new play tells her story with flair and sensitivity in the gloriously recognisable Arrows & Traps style.
Framed by scenes of John Lister (Alex Stevens) and Arthur Burrell (Tom Hartill) trying to decipher the coded passages of Anne Lister’s diaries years after her death, the secrets of her life shock and inspire Lister as her intimate history intertwines with what he knows of Gentleman Jack’s business affairs as a mine owner, traveller and mountaineer.
Lucy Ioannou and Cornelia Baumann play Anne at different stages in her life. Both actors bring passion and intensity to the role in stunning performances. Ioannou’s younger Anne is beguiling and arrogant, conveying Lister’s unashamed sexuality and brazen confidence. Laurel Marks and Beatrice Vincent shine as her lovers Tib and Mariana. Marks is full of heart and is hysterical hamming it up with Tib’s awful Shakespearean excerpts but will leave your top lip quivering as she finally leaves Anne with her beautifully understated delivery of Prospero’s epilogue. Lister’s cruelty towards adoring Tib is mirrored by her relationship with Mariana, who bows to convention and marries a wealthy man, keeping their relationship as her guilty secret.
Baumann plays the more mature Anne, steelier but no less passionate. Her confrontations with neighbouring mine owner Rawson (Toby Wynn-Davies) serve to demonstrate the misogyny and prejudice faced by a woman who refused to conform. Hannah Victory is a wonderful foil for Baumann as Anne Walker, and their relationship builds believably and maturely.
McGregor doesn’t gloss over the trickier points of Anne’s story, acknowledging her bloody mindedness and cruelty and the fact that her social position and wealth meant that she was free to live as she chose. Any abuse she and Walker endured, although horrible, was limited to talk, laughter and loss of business rather than the physical abuse and forced marriage that a woman without her privilege could face. Even so, Anne’s bravery and self-knowledge are inspirational, and nobody is perfect. When her story is told in such an honest and moving way with such magnificent stagecraft, and by such a talented ensemble, it makes for unmissable theatre.