Preview: Susanna at Newcastle Theatre Royal

Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre Return with Timely Susanna

Susanna 

Newcastle Theatre Royal 

Friday 7 November 2025

A biblical tale of power, testimony and truth finds fresh resonance through the combined forces of Handel's music and contemporary dance

Opera North and Phoenix Dance Theatre bring their fourth collaboration to Newcastle Theatre Royal on 7 November, staging Handel's lesser-known work Susanna—a piece whose themes of power imbalance and contested truth feel distinctly relevant today.

Anna Dennis rehearses the role of Susanna
with choreographer Marcus Jarrell Willis
and dancers from Phoenix Dance Theatre. 

The opera centres on a young married woman who, after rejecting advances from two powerful community figures, faces false accusations of promiscuity. Director Olivia Fuchs and choreographer Marcus Jarrell Willis have approached this centuries-old narrative through the distinctive lens that dance and opera together provide.

"We have sought to make it contemporary and relevant," Fuchs explains. "The two layers – dance and the sung narrative – open up extraordinary potential. Marcus and I have spoken about counterpoint, about reflection, about revealing what lies beneath the surface."

The production explores multiple perspectives on its central character. At times, Phoenix dancers embody Susanna and the other figures in the story; at others, they move alongside the singers in what Fuchs describes as a dreamlike state. "For me, the possibilities lie in showing what could be – the truths that are not spoken outright, but are always present, always implied."

For Willis and the Phoenix dancers, the work's contemporary resonance proved compelling. "We had some very in-depth conversations about the treatment of women in the world and how that has carried on through the centuries," he notes.

The creative team has reconceived the character of Daniel—who in the original story defends Susanna and exposes her accusers—as gender-fluid, performed by Opera North Chorus member Claire Lees. "In our version," Fuchs continues, "Daniel is, in a way, the ultimate activist and the voice of the future – the new generation, who intervenes, who changes the course of the story, and who stands up for the oppressed."

British Sign Language has been integrated into the production through a character embodying another version of Daniel, who at times interprets and at other times comments on the action. This choice, Fuchs suggests, prompts reflection on "who is heard; who is believed."

The production also explores Susanna's agency through her final aria 'Guilt, trembling, spoke my doom', performed after her vindication, which becomes an opportunity to imagine what she might have said—and what she might yet do.

In one striking sequence, all the female company members embody Susanna simultaneously. Willis elaborates: "Structurally, it's very simple. They navigate the space, and every time they move to a new point, they have to be attuned to the person behind them. All four Susannas might be doing the same steps, but they're each individuals; you see different qualities come out based on who they are. That tells the story of who Susanna is – or could be – but more importantly, it allows us to see them as dancers as well."

Photos: Tom Arber

Tickets

Susanna arrives at Newcastle Theatre Royal at 7pm on Friday 7 November 2025. Tickets are available now with discounted options for Under 30s: https://www.theatreroyal.co.uk/whats-on/susanna/