D H Lawrence’s The Daughter-in-Law - production images released
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
PRODUCTION images have been released of the first London staging in over 15 years of D H Lawrence’s groundbreaking play The Daughter-In-Law. To view them, click here.
Previously Posted: Images have been released of the cast rehearsing for the first London staging in over 15 years of D H Lawrence’s groundbreaking play The Daughter-in-Law. To view them, click here.
Previously Posted: A rare production of D H Lawrence’s The Daughter-in-Law, a searing and unforgettable drama about heartache, inequality and the ties that bind, set in the heat of the 1912 miners’ strike, runs at Arcola Theatre from Wednesday, May 23 to Saturday, June 23, 2018.
This groundbreaking play, not published or performed in Lawrence’s lifetime, premiered in a Peter Gill production at the Royal Court Theatre in the 1960s. Now, it is receiving its first London production in over 15 years, staged in the round, at Arcola Theatre.
Minnie has big ambitions for her new marriage to Luther Gascoyne, but Luther’s mother Mrs Gascoyne has ideas of her own. When she discovers explosive news about one of Luther’s old flames, Mrs Gascoyne lays the battle-lines for an emotional struggle that could tear the whole family apart.
The cast includes Harry Hepple (as Luther Gascoyne), Ellie Nunn (Minnie Gascoyne), Veronica Roberts (Mrs Gascoyne), Matthew Biddulph (Joe Gascoyne) and Tessa Bell-Briggs (Mrs Purdy).
Harry Hepple is best known as the leading character Leo in the BBC1 series Boy Meets Girl. His numerous stage credits include playing Charlie in Privates on Parade, directed by Michael Grandage (Noel Coward Theatre); Geoffrey in A Taste of Honey (National Theatre); The Baker in Into The Woods (Menier Chocolate Factory); Ragtime and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Regent’s Park Theatre); and Chip in The 5th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Donmar Warehouse).
Hepple was recently seen as Spud in Wonderland, Adam Penford’s inaugural production at Nottingham Playhouse.
Ellie Nunn’s theatre work includes Shakespeare in Love (West End); one-woman show Bombshells (Jermyn Street Theatre); Lady Windermere in Lady Windermere’s Fan (King’s Head Theatre); Ida in Honk! (Union Theatre); and Soldier On (Playground Theatre/UK tour).
Veronica Roberts’ many credits include Moving Pieces (National Theatre); Dancing at Lughnasa (West End); Judy in Harry and Judy (Southwark Playhouse); and After Electra (The Drum Plymouth/Tricycle Theatre, London). She also played Lady Hester in the film Mr Turner.
Matthew Biddulph features in the upcoming WW1 film, The Burying Party, an official selection for the Los Angeles Film Awards 2018. His stage credits include Think of England (UK tour/Vault Festival) and Leaf (Edinburgh Fringe/New Diorama Theatre).
Tessa Bell-Briggs was in the world premiere of Peter Gill’s As Good A Time As Any (Print Room at The Coronet) and A Doll’s House and Hayfever (Manchester Royal Exchange).
D H Lawrence was born in 1885 in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, where The Daughter-in-Law is set. The son of a coal miner and an upwardly mobile haberdasher’s saleswoman, he put much of his early life into his writings.
He wrote The Daughter-in-Law in 1913, the same year as his novel Sons and Lovers was published. Its realistic depiction of working-class life – Lawrence described it as “neither a tragedy nor a comedy – just ordinary” – preceded the ‘kitchen sink’ dramas of the late-50s/early-60s by almost half a century, and fell foul of contemporary theatre producers.
When Lawrence’s plays were first staged at the Royal Court in the mid-60s, the playwright John Osborne remarked ‘they were so good than even critics couldn’t fail to see their quality’. Always a controversial writer, at the time of his death in 1930 Lawrence’s public reputation was that of a pornographer who had wasted his considerable talents. Since then his work has been continually appraised. He is now widely recognised as one of the most significant and influential writers of the twentieth century.
A co-production by Arcola Theatre and Dippermouth, The Daughter-in-Law is directed by Jack Gamble and designed by Louie Whitemore, with lighting by Geoff Hense and sound by Dinah Mullen. Associate director is Quentin Beroud.
For more information or to book tickets, call the box office on 020 7503 1646 or visit www.arcolatheatre.com/.