Review: LADY CHATTERLEY'S LOVER, Crucible Studio, Sheffield, 1 October 2016

For something based on a text with such a controversial history, the English Touring Theatre/Sheffield Theatres production of Lady Chatterley's Lover (directed by Phillip Breen) is remarkably chaste. Sure, there is plenty of full-frontal nudity throughout (and this is equally the case for Hedydd Dylan's Lady Chatterley and Jonah Russell's Mellors), and there are several (mostly fully-clothed) sex scenes, but there is little in the way of sensationalism, as odd as that may sound.

Lady Chatterley's relationships with both her husband, Clifford (Eugene O'Hare) and her lover, gamekeeper Mellors, are tenderly drawn, with a sweetness and real sense of love and affection at their heart - although the characterisation of some of the supporting characters is a little less fleshed out.

What this play gets really right is the emotion of the relationships and the real sense of Lady Chatterley's struggle to stay loyal to her husband whilst also falling in love with another man.

One of the central storylines, the one that forms the impetus for her to have an affair in the first place, is whether or not she will become pregnant in order to give her husband an heir that he can't provide himself. Yet, in a play that emphasises her sense of romantic love and shows her trying to find her 'place' in the world, her feelings about the possibility of pregnancy or motherhood are never really explored. We don't know if she feels duty bound to have a child, whether she would like one, whether she really doesn't want to have one or anything else. It's a curious omission in a play that deals so clearly with feelings and relationships.

The story is developed against the backdrop of the country coming to terms with the impact of World War I. There are some pertinent political points raised, but this strand disappears as the play goes on and is never fully realised.

Laura Hopkins' set design is stark, yet beautiful - forsaking the use of flats or other large-scale constructions for a stripped-back stage, with the curtain separating back from front and a small number of pieces of furniture, revealed by the pulling away of dust sheets. Flowers are strewn throughout the play to mark the different seasons - a touch that was really effective, connecting very closely to one of the central and most touching scenes of the play, where Lady Chatterley and Mellors adorn each other's naked bodies with flowers.

Whilst the physical set is sparse, musical director David Osmond and Sound Designer Andrea J Cox create a soundscape that effectively acts as scenery. The use of a piano (played by Osmond) and other sounds - particularly a typewriter and running water - illustrate not only the sounds occurring in particular locations, but Lady Chatterley's emotions and thoughts.

The pacing and tone of this production are a little uneven. Act One is far too long at around an hour and a half, and it takes a leisurely stroll through events (Mellors isn't introduced until fairly late on in the act, for example). Act Two, by contrast, has fewer significant events in it - and many of those that drive the plot forward are rushed through or narrated rather than shown.

The script is full of double entendres, but the serious tone makes it difficult to know whether or not these are intentional, so there were a number of nervous titters from an audience that didn't know if it had permission to laugh at these points in proceedings.

Although this is a production that could do with a little attention to its pacing and tone, it's still a worthwhile watch, with some great performances, especially from the leads, and a play that puts the heart of the story at the centre, rather than offering nudge-nudge wink-wink titillation.

Lady Chatterley's Lover is at the Crucible, Sheffield until October 15 and is then on tour nationally. Details here.

Photo by Mark Douet.