WUTHERING HEIGHTS at The Alhambra

Lust, rage, betrayal, jealousy, revenge – and Heathcliff in tights. A night at the theatre doesn’t get much better than that.

Northern Ballet Theatre’s 40th anniversary celebrations continue with the company’s acclaimed version of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece.

With a striking set and passionate, beautifully choreographed performances set to composer Claude-Michel Schonberg’s dramatic score, this is the kind of ballet you can lose yourself in for a couple of hours. It’s a traditional re-telling of the classic love story, blending romantic tragedy with edgy drama.

The simple set, bringing to life the haunting beauty of the Yorkshire landscape, had a natural feel, comprising largely of twisted branches and golden autumn leaves, with falling snow and forked lightning. The set blended seamlessly from bleak moorland to dark scenes at Wuthering Heights to the Lintons’ elegant country house.

I would’ve preferred a more Gothic-looking house for the Heights, instead of what resembled a dormer bungalow, but overall the simplicity worked well.

The fabulous performances drew gasps from the audience. Christopher Hinton-Lewis was a splendid Heathcliff, from a spirited youth to a dangerous player to a broken man, consumed with grief. And Martha Leebolt, looking like a young Julia Roberts, was a wonderful, feisty Cathy. Great performances too from Hironao Takahgashi as nice-but-dull Edgar and Hannah Bateman as girlish Isabella.

The dance sequences were beautifully synchronised, with some striking lifts. Little was left to the imagination with the sexually charged pas de deux during which Heathcliff seduces Isabella with a horse-whip.

The first part of the story literally rolled into the next, with the young Cathy and Heathcliff rolling off stage as their older selves rolled on. Particularly effective was the presence of the children watching on as the drama unfolded.

A lovely interpretation of a classic story, performed with passion just a few miles from where it was written.

Runs until Saturday.