Review: Lauren Cuthbertson in Woolf Works – A Sublime Return

When Sir Wayne McGregor‘s Woolf Works first premiered in 2015, there was much anticipation hyped around the return of Alessandra Ferri, the celebrated ballerina who came out of retirement in 2013, and danced the roles of ‘Clarissa Dalloway’ and ‘Virginia Woolf’. The return of principal dancer Lauren Cuthbertson, following her period of illness due to meningitis and further complications in the summer of 2025, makes Cuthbertson’s recent debut in Woolf Works somewhat short of a miracle.

Woolf Works opens with the haunting voice of Woolf, lamenting language and the perils of writing. Max Richter’s equally evocative score sustains the visual spectacle that Uzma Hameed’s dramaturgy propels across the three-act work. Cuthbertson stood as a lonely, diminutive figure as the lights rose. Her presence felt teetering on the emotional. Her movements carried not just the narrative of Part One, I now, I then through the Woolf/Older Clarissa role;  they transcended threads of personal narrative for those who have followed Cuthbertson’s posts on Instagram. While this role was created for Ferri, Cuthbertson commanded Woolf’s narrative and made an emotive detour to harness an intense performance that was really just made for her.

Supporting Cuthbertson’s debut were Thomas Whitehead, an elegant ‘Richard’, and Reece Clarke, a sublime rendition of ‘Peter’. Cuthbertson and Clarke were glorious in Clarissa’s reminiscences of her younger days; Clarke revels in his breadth of partnering, revealing his outstanding ability to shift in styles across the season. Nicol Edmunds is a highlight for this return of Woolf Works this season, bringing much depth to the role of ‘Septimus’. The trio with Annette Buvoli (Rezia) and Liam Boswell (Evans) brings further richness to the storytelling in I now, I then. Boswell, a soloist since 2024, affirms his presence and adds significant depth to McGregor’s choreography. Part Two’s Becomings remains a futuristic contemporary ballet, which ages with minor flaws.

For Cuthbertson, Woolf Works comes full circle in Part Three, The Waves, taking centre stage as Gillian Anderson’s narration of Woolf’s last letter to her husband, Leonard. The effect is haunting as Cuthbertson slowly walks up centre stage, with slow-moving, crashing waves. Clarke returns for a melancholic duet, a gentle releasing of Cuthbertson into Woolf’s parting thoughts.

Cuthbertson’s curtain call was a special moment for everyone watching her on the Main Stage. Here was a woman whose spirit soared, returning to her beloved stage, performing a ballet that wasn’t quite made for her, but in that moment, it truly became her. A sublime return for an exquisite Cuthbertson and for the brilliance of Woolf Works.

Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel

Dr Kathrina Farrugia-Kriel is a dance scholar, educator and published author. She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dance (2003), the Universities of Durham and Surrey, and London Metropolitan University (2013). Her doctoral research focussed on Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Noces (1923), and the re-imaginings by contemporary choreographers Angelin Preljocaj and Mauro Bigonzetti. Kathrina is a former director of the Society of Dance History Scholars (now Dance Studies Association). Her scholarship on ballet histories has been published in peer-reviewed anthologies and journals, as well as newspapers, high-end magazines, and online blogs. She has authored a book on the legacy of Nathalie Poutiatine and ballet in Malta (Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, 2020) and co-edited an extensive and pioneering anthology titled The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet (Oxford University Press, 2021).