THE DAUGHTER IN LAW: till 10 October.
THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: D H Lawrence.
New Vic Theatre, Stoke on Trent.
www.newvictheatre.org.uk
Runs: 2.5 hours, one interval, till 10 October.
Review: Rod Dungate, 6 October 2009.
This gem shines to perfection in its New Vic setting.
I’m not certain how Lawrence would have wanted us to receive his play, but for my part it’s thrilling in this intimate setting. But why thrilling? The story is hard, the context bleak, the history and the future we know from here, horrible. The thrill comes from the intensity of emotion that we are enabled to share with the characters.
We are dragged into their world, we may kick and scream, but these characters are not to be ignored. Set against the developing mining strike of 1912, Lawrence creates the story of young miner Luther, newly married to aspirational but forceful Minnie; can Luther escape the clutches of his mother (indeed, are there clutches?) and fulfil Minnie’s need for love. A little story . . . but this is Lawrence’s means to explore his larger themes - mothers and sons, morals, sexuality, class, class oppression.
Watching this play - a mere two and a half hours - I became conscious that Lawrence, because he is writing a play, is forced to concentrate his ideas and explorations. Moreover, as a consumer of his thoughts, my job is made all the easier because the creative team has done all my homework for me. All I have to do is sit there and be intensely interested and moved.
This is a fine team. Anita Carey creates Mrs Gascoigne, the tough mother who must hold everything together. ‘What a lot of fools men are,’ she says. She shapes her first act superbly - incrementally moving from tough to domineering. Thereafter we see all sides of her at once.
Nia Gwyne and Michael Shelford play the newly married couple, Minnie and Luther. The scenes between them have you open-mouthed. All contrary elements are played for full worth - and the final result is worth far, far more than the sum of the parts. Christine Cox gives a warm and sympathetic performance as Mrs Purdey, never falling into the trap of easy caricature, and Adam Sopp creates an amiable, if feckless, Joe.
Joanna Read’s directing is transparent; their is no visible evidence of a director’s touch - the play speaks for itself. But the transparency is generosity; the evidence of a sure hand is there right enough.
Mrs Gacoigne: Anita Carey.
Mrs Purdey: Christine Cox.
Minnie: Nia Gwynne.
Luther: Michael Shelford.
Joe: Adam Sopp.
Director: Janna Read.
Designer: Nancy Surma.
Lighting Designer: Mark Doubleday.
Sound Designer: James Ears-davis.
Voice Coach: Sally Hague.
Assistant Director: James Dacre.
2009-10-07 15:25:25