The Theatre of D.H. Lawrence: Dramatic Modernist and Theatrical Innovator (Critical Companions)

This Is The First Major Book-length Study For Four Decades To Examine The Plays Written By D. H. Lawrence, And The First Ever Book To Give An In-depth Analysis Of Lawrence's Interaction With The Theatre Industry During The Early Twentieth Century. It Connects And Examines His Performance Texts, And Explores His Reaction To A Wide-range Of Theatre (from The Sensation Dramas Of Working-class Eastwood To The Ritual Performances Of The Pueblo People) In Order To Explain Lawrence's Contribution To Modern Drama. F. R. Leavis Influentially Labelled The Writer 'd. H. Lawrence: Novelist'. But This Book Foregrounds Lawrence's Career As A Playwright, Exploring Unfamiliar Contexts And Manuscripts, And Drawing Particular Attention To His Three Most Successful Works: The Widowing Of Mrs Holroyd, The Daughter-in-law, And A Collier's Friday Night. It Examines How Lawrence's Novels Are Suffused With Theatrical Thinking, Revealing How Lawrence's Fictions - From His First Published Work To The Last Story That He Wrote Before His Death - Continually Take Inspiration From The Playhouse. The Book Also Argues That, Although Lawrence Has Sometimes Been Dismissed As A Restrictively Naturalistic Stage Writer, His Overall Oeuvre Shows A Consistent Concern With Theatrical Experiment, And Manifests Affinities With The Dramatic Thinking Of Modernist Figures Including Brecht, Artaud, And Joyce. In A Final Section, The Book Includes Contributions From Influential Theatre-makers Who Have Taken Their Own Cue From Lawrence's Work, And Who Have Created Original Work That Consciously Follows Lawrence In Making Working-class Life Central To The Public Forum Of The Theatre Stage-- Machine Generated Contents Note: Foreword By Sir Richard Eyre -- Synopsis -- Introduction. The Significance Of Lawrence's Plays: Shifts In Reputation From 1930 To 2014 -- Chapter 1. Writing Lawrence's Plays: Becoming A Dramatist, 1885 To 1910 -- Chapter 2. The Frustration Of Staging: Dramatic Struggles, 1911 To 1930 -- Chapter 3. The Drama Of Lawrence's Prose Fiction: The Playwright As Novelist -- Chapter 4. Lawrence's Theatrical Development: Realist And Experimentalist Crosscurrents -- Chapter 5. A Director's Perspective: Peter Gill, In Conversation With James Moran -- Chapter 6. A Playwright's Perspective: Stephen Lowe -- Chapter 7. A Screenwriter's Perspective: William Ivory -- Chapter 8. A Postcolonial Perspective: Soudabeh Ananisarab -- Conclusion. James Moran. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 229-238) And Index. "This is the first major book-length study for four decades to examine the plays written by D. H. Lawrence, and the first ever book to give an in-depth analysis of Lawrence's interaction with the theatre industry during the early twentieth century. It connects and examines his performance texts, and explores his reaction to a wide-range of theatre (from the sensation dramas of working-class Eastwood to the ritual performances of the Pueblo people) in order to explain Lawrence's contribution to modern drama. F. R. Leavis influentially labelled the writer 'D. H. Lawrence: Novelist'. But this book foregrounds Lawrence's career as a playwright, exploring unfamiliar contexts and manuscripts, and drawing particular attention to his three most successful works: The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd, The Daughter-in-Law, and A Collier's Friday Night. It examines how Lawrence's novels are suffused with theatrical thinking, revealing how Lawrence's fictions - from his first published work to the last story that he wrote before his death - continually take inspiration from the playhouse. The book also argues that, although Lawrence has sometimes been dismissed as a restrictively naturalistic stage writer, his overall oeuvre shows a consistent concern with theatrical experiment, and manifests affinities with the dramatic thinking of modernist figures including Brecht, Artaud, and Joyce. In a final section, the book includes contributions from influential theatre-makers who have taken their own cue from Lawrence's work, and who have created original work that consciously follows Lawrence in making working-class life central to the public forum of the theatre stage" -- Provided by publisher Cover page 1 Halftitle page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Dedication 6 Epigraph 7 CONTENTS 8 FOREWORD 9 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 12 OVERVIEW 14 INTRODUCTION THE SIGNIFICANCE OF LAWRENCE’S PLAYS: SHIFTS IN REPUTATION FROM 1930 TO 2014 18 The dead playwright 18 Mid-century reassessments 21 Influence on playwrights 25 Current status 33 CHAPTER 1 WRITING LAWRENCE’S PLAYS: BECOMING A DRAMATIST, 1885 TO 1910 38 Eastwood 38 Shakespeare 41 Arthur and Ernest 46 Sarah Bernhardt 50 Croydon and Synge 55 Davidson Road School 60 W.B. Yeats 64 CHAPTER 2 THE FRUSTRATION OF STAGING: DRAMATIC STRUGGLES, 1911 TO 1930 68 Granville Barker 68 Edward Garnett 69 Regional repertory theatre 73 Frieda 75 The Stage Society 83 Esmé Percy 84 Ireland 86 Farjeon and Goldring 88 Galsworthy 91 Another failure 93 Nottingham 94 CHAPTER 3 THE DRAMA OF LAWRENCE’S FICTION: PLAYWRIGHT AS NOVELIST 104 From stage to page 104 Christmas 105 G.B. Shaw 111 Popular theatricals 115 Esther Andrews 117 Portable theatre and cinema 121 Towards a theatre of cruelty 127 Lawrence’s final story 130 CHAPTER 4 LAWRENCE’S THEATRICAL DEVELOPMENT: REALIST AND EXPERIMENTALIST CROSSCURRENTS 134 Lawrence the realist? 134 Ibsen and Strindberg 139 Hauptmann 140 Maeterlinck 141 Italy and Germany 143 Puebloan ritual 146 Bertolt Brecht 149 The final play 151 Joycean parallels 157 CHAPTER 5 A DIRECTOR’S PERSPECTIVE: PETER GILL, IN CONVERSATION WITH JAMES MORAN 160 CHAPTER 6 A PLAYWRIGHT’S PERSPECTIVE 174 CHAPTER 7 A SCREENWRITER’S PERSPECTIVE 184 CHAPTER 8 AN INTERCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE 198 CONCLUSION 208 LAWRENCE’S THEATRE: A TIMELINE 212 NOTES 216 BIBLIOGRAPHY 246 INDEX 256 This is the first major book-length study for four decades to examine the plays written by D.H. Lawrence, and the first ever book to give an in-depth analysis of Lawrence's interaction with the theatre industry during the early 20th century. It connects and examines his performance texts, and explores his reaction to a wide-range of theatre (from the sensation dramas of working-class Eastwood to the ritual performances of the Pueblo people) in order to explain Lawrence's contribution to modern drama