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The Daughter-in-Law by DH Lawrence at Lowry, Salford






Posted by Tony Flynn on 26th January 2012 at 02:41 PM
The Daughter-in-Law by DH Lawrence at Lowry, Salford
The Daughter-in-Law, a rarely seen play by DH Lawrence, one of the giants of 20th century English literature, continues the Library Theatre Company’s highly successful residency at The Lowry in Salford. The production, which will be directed by Chris Honer, the company’s Artistic Director, opens on Thursday 23 February and runs until Saturday 10 March 2012.

Luther Gascoigne, a Nottinghamshire miner, and socially ambitious Minnie have been married for just six weeks. Luther’s mother disapproves; in her view Minnie’s pretensions make her an unsuitable match for her son. When an explosive revelation from Luther’s past is unexpectedly revealed, it threatens to derail the married couple’s new life together.

Set in 1912 against the backdrop of a bitter miners’ strike, The Daughter-in-Law, which was never performed in its author’s lifetime, is an unjustly neglected classic drama. Full of passion, sexual tension, and class conflict, The Daughter-in-Law affirms DH Lawrence, more commonly known for his novels and poetry, as a playwright of the first order.

Taking the roles of Luther and Minnie are Alun Raglan and Natalie Grady. Alun, who starred in the Library Theatre Company’s Manchester Evening News Theatre Award-winning production of Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me by Frank McGuinness in spring 2007, is familiar to TV viewers as Daniel Wolfenden in the hit ITV drama At Home With the Braithwaites. He was also a regular in ITV’s Making Waves, in which he played Alex, and has credits in Casualty, Doctors, and The Bill.

Wigan-born Natalie Grady, who was a member of the National Theatre cast of Rafta Rafta, which won a prestigious Lawrence Olivier Award in 2008 for Best New Comedy, returns to the Library Theatre Company after her appearance as Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance of Being Earnest, the Library Theatre Company’s final production at its former home, Manchester Central Library, in spring 2010.

One of Britain’s most distinguished actors, Diane Fletcher, plays Mrs Gascoigne. DH Lawrence did not write many plays but Diane has the distinction of having appeared in a production of his 1914 play The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd at Nottingham Playhouse in 1975, amongst a host of credits in theatres around the country and in the West End over the past 40 years. She also featured in Roman Polanski’s film version of Macbeth, and has appeared in a number of classic TV dramas, notably House of Cards.

Luther’s brother Joe, also a miner, is played by Paul Simpson, who appeared in the Library Theatre Company’s well-received world premiere production of Ayub Khan-Din’s All The Way Home last autumn. With a large number of credits at Bolton Octagon Theatre, he is no stranger to Greater Manchester theatre-goers. Susan Twist, another familiar face to many on the local theatre scene and on TV programmes such as Coronation Street, Doctors, Brookside, and The Royal, plays Mrs Purdy. The cast is completed by newcomer Max Calandrew, who plays a cab driver.

Accompanying the production is No! Mr Lawrence!, an intimate performance of a selection of poems by DH Lawrence, which will be directed by Josh Azouz, assistant director of The Daughter-in-Law, and performed by members of the cast on the set of The Daughter-in-Law. There will performances on Tuesday 6, Wednesday 7, and Friday 9 March at 6pm and 6.15pm. Tickets are free for The Daughter-in-Law ticket-holders but must be booked in advance.

Please note there will be smoking on stage in The Daughter-in-Law.

Thursday 23 February - Saturday 10 March 2012.

Performances: Monday-Saturday 7.15pm; matinees Saturdays 25 February, 3 and 10 March 2.30pm; Thursdays 1 and 8 March 2.30pm.
Pre-show talk with director Chris Honer Saturday 10 March 1.30pm.

Tickets: Monday £12; Tuesday-Thursday evenings, Thursday and Saturday matinees £15, £13 (concessions £13, £11); Friday/Saturday evenings £19.50, £17.50. Preview Thursday 23 February all seats £12. Under-26s tickets preview and Mondays (subject to availability) £10.

Access performances: Audio-Described Thursday 1 March 7.15pm
(pre-show touch-tour 6.15pm); British Sign-Language Friday 2 March 7.15pm; Captioned Wednesday 7 March 7.15pm.

Box office www.librarytheatre.com or 0843 208 6010.

Source: Mike Barnett.


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