The Story
I want to live my life so that my nights are not filled with regrets.
So said D.H. Lawrence and his words echo back from a bygone era - presenting a timeless challenge to us all, no matter what our individual goals and aspirations might be. Like Lawrence, rejection gives us strength to fight for what we believe in - no matter what the odds.
Act One
The story begins in London's Old Bailey courtroom during the infamous 1960 obscenity trial of Penguin Books Ltd. for its publication of Lady Chatterley's Lover - Lawrence's most controversial and sexually explicit novel.
The audience are presented with a question - was D.H. Lawrence a peddler of pornography or champion of individuality? The musical seeks to explore this question by analyzing Lawrence, the man, the writer, the lover - and the changing times in which he lived.
D.H. Lawrence
Quest
From humble beginnings as a Nottinghamshire miner's son, David Herbert Lawrence finally breaks away from the stifling love of his mother, Lydia, and the brooding intensity of his girlfriend, Jessie, to pursue his quest as a writer.
He meets many women but no-one truly feeds his flame. He yearns for someone full of life, love, and passion. Eventually, he meets and falls madly in love with Frieda von Richthofen, a German baroness and cousin of The Red Baron - the famous WWI fighter pilot. Lawrence described her as "the most wonderful woman in all of England".
He convinces Frieda to give up her children and her comfortable life as the wife of a Professor at Nottingham University to embark on a tumultuous roller-coaster ride with D.H. Lawrence, the working-class genius.
Censored
Inspired firstly by the people in his home town of Eastwood, Lawrence writes Sons and Lovers, then The Rainbow, then Women in Love. His writing is new, brave, spontaneous, passionate, and often scandalous. It rocks the establishment to the core. Labelled a "peddler of pornography", many of his books are censored, burned or banned - but he passionately clings to his belief in freedom of expression and individuality.
Act Two
As the censors gain momentum, Lawrence's publisher loses faith in the marketability of his work. He is then falsely accused of spying for the Germans. With little to their names, Lawrence and Frieda have no choice but to leave England in search of a better life. They travel but never settle for long, with Lawrence constantly drawn back to England - the "country of my heart".
When they return in 1926, Lawrence witnesses the miners' desperate struggle for fair wages and improved working conditions and the indifference of the wealthy, greedy mine owners to the miners' plight. This inspires him to write what will become the most daring and notorious novel of its day.
Lady Chatterley's Lover
As the first edition of Lady Chatterley’s Lover rolls off the press, Lawrence finally collapses from tuberculosis, an illness he has been fighting since birth.
At the end of a life that saw much of his work censored and reviled, Lawrence - with Frieda by his side - glimpses a future where he will at last be recognised as one of the greatest English novelists of the 20th century.
The Verdict
We return to the Old Bailey and the trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover. A resounding "Not Guilty" verdict sets the stage for a new beginning where the spirit of D.H. Lawrence is vindicated and proudly proclaims: “I will rise like the Phoenix from the ashes of my life”.