Husbands and Sons ****

Dorfman, National Theatre

EXCERPT: "[Ben Power's adaptation] emphasises the similarities between all [three short plays]. Personally, I found the parallels to be drawn heightened the emotional significance of the relationships we saw and meant that you could see how problems embodied themselves at different points in a lifetime. "

Summary

Husbands & Sons interweaves three of D H Lawrence’s greatest dramas, and plays them simultaneously. Describing the world he came from with fierce tenderness, Lawrence evokes a now-vanished world of manual labour and working class pride.

It’s risky work, handlin’ men, my lass. For when a woman builds ’er life on men, either ’usbands or sons, she builds on summat as sooner or later brings the ’ouse down crash on ’er head – yi, she does.

On the cracked border of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire stands the village of Eastwood. The women of the village, wives and mothers, struggle to hold their families and their own souls together in the shadow of the great Brinsley pit.

Thoughts

DH Lawrence's three short plays have been adapted by Ben Power and very artfully integrated so that they run concurrently. This emphasises the similarities between them all - something that Peter Gill, their previous adapter, disagrees with. Personally, I found the parallels to be drawn heightened the emotional significance of the relationships we saw and meant that you could see how problems embodied themselves at different points in a lifetime. We see mothers' claustrophobic relationships with their sons preventing them from developing real loving relationships with their wives, and those resentfully helpless wives venting their spleen and rupturing any chance of happiness. And then, in place of a loving marital relationship, they transfer love to their sons, and the cycle continues. It is horribly human, the propensity for needy people to be self-destructive, and as such is fairly depressing to watch. But it is totally engaging and made so because the scenes play out in real time next to one another; we have to stay alert to follow the stories. 

Marianne Elliott has staged them beautifully in the round - only at one point and for about 30 seconds was my view of one couple obstructed - and the scene wasn't in the spotlight so it wouldn't have mattered if it hadn't been for my near obsessive desire to see that couple's story (i invested very heavily in the potential love story that was there and am incredibly relieved that their misunderstandings were cleared up. It pained me to see each of them push the other away when they so clearly just wanted to be loved by them. I think I invested unusually strongly in their relationship to be honest and that if I hadn't I would have enjoyed it less - a classic case of the personal overriding objective appreciation. Objectively, however, the set was beautiful. But I'm not sure how much was gained by the putting on coats miming and door closing sounds etc, though as it progressed I did get more used to it. Overall the production was a pleasant surprise, even if the plays are good but not extraordinary.