Susanna (Opera North). Theatre Royal, Nottingham, 21 November 2025, 5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Ruff.

Photo Credit: Richard H Smith.

Susanna (Opera North). Theatre Royal, Nottingham, 21 November 2025,

5☆☆☆☆☆. Review: William Ruff.

“Opera North triumphantly liberates Handel’s Susanna from the cultural museum.”

Before Opera North came up with the idea of putting Handel’s Susanna on stage, you probably wouldn’t have had much of a chance of experiencing it live at all.  At best it might have been in a church performed by a choral society, in which case most of the drama would have been acted out in your imagination while the singers had their heads in their scores, reading all those notes.

Handel wrote Susanna for first performance during Lent 1749, the time of year when staged operas were banned from theatres but religious oratorios were permitted.  It’s one of his most dramatic pieces and at its heart is the very human story of a woman falsely accused by two corrupt elders of adultery after she has the nerve to reject their repulsive sexual advances.  She’s a woman in a man’s world with no power to plead her case against two so-called pillars of the community, so she’s condemned to death.  However, do not despair: the young prophet Daniel is waiting in the wings (to everyone’s astonishment) to prove her innocence and Susanna’s accusers are exposed and justly punished.  All this cries out for the operatic treatment and I could sense the ghost of Handel smiling approvingly at what this production achieves.

Just the barest plot outline shouts that Susanna has massive contemporary relevance (violence/injustice against women just one of its many themes). And Opera North has gone about its interpretation in ways which underline its universal meanings.  Unlike most of Handel’s oratorios it is an intimate, character-led story, a gift for accomplished singers who can also express a wide range of often painful emotions. 

Susanna must be one of the composer’s most noble and best-drawn female characters, played by soprano Anna Dennis who shines vocally throughout as well as radiating virtue.  She makes Handel’s demanding, often highly decorated, music her own, whilst Jake Wiltshire’s lighting design makes her moral purity almost palpable.  James Hall plays Susann’s husband Joacim, a highly expressive counter-tenor whose passionate love for his wife has to contend with her possible infidelity.  Matthew Brook is Susanna’s noble father Chelsias and the wicked Elders are played (with dark relish) by Colin Judson and Karl Huml.  Claire Lees’ bright, agile soprano (and her joyous Technicolor costume) comes as a bright clarion-call of justice and optimism in the final Act.

However, there’s much more to the is production than fine singing from the principals.  Director Olivia Fuchs’ vision ensures that the audience’s eyes witness the energy of Handel’s creation as well as their ears.  Opera North are here collaborating with Phoenix Dance Theatre whose dancers interpret the action (and the intense emotions) throughout, ensuring nothing is ever static but instead hurling an electric charge of feeling directly towards the audience.  What’s more, sign language and mime also become a potent part of the mix.

Opera North’s Chorus is another essential element.  They are core actors in the drama, vocally as well as physically engaged, often accompanying their words with striking gestures.  And the Orchestra proves once again just how versatile they are.  People expect historically-informed performances of Handel these days and this is what we hear in this production, conducted by Johanna Soller with insight and style.  Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre together convey a powerful and moving story of virtue under pressure, the corruption of power and the eventual triumph of truth.  Handel’s Susanna has been languishing in our cultural museum’s dusty back room for far too long – but this production sets it free.

Opera North: Susanna

Anna Dennis (Susanna), Matthew Brook (Chelsias), Claire Lees (Daniel), James Hall (Joacim), Colin Judson (First Elder), Karl Huml (Second Elder).

Chorus and Orchestra of Opera North

Phoenix Dance Theatre

Johanna Soller (conductor), Olivia Fuchs (director), Marcus Jarrell Willis (choreographer), Zahra Mansouri (set and costume designer), Jake Wiltshire (lighting designer).