'Husbands and Sons' National Theatre, Dorfman ****

A adaptors decision to intertwine three short plays of an illustrious writer’s work into one full length performance can prove to be quite a risky and daring idea as the dramaturgy could be lost whilst connecting the three together, on the other hand, when the play is about a tightly knit community where a disaster occurs may prove fruitful. The National Theatre’s production of D H Lawrence’s play, ‘Husbands and Sons’ which combines, ‘A Collier’s Friday Night’, ‘The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd’ and ‘The Daughter-in-Law’ was a high energy performance with effortless depictions all round.

‘Husbands and Sons’ which has been cleverly adapted by Ben Power is situated in the village of Eastwood, October 1911 where we’re familiarised with three family units, the Holroyds, the Lamberts and the Gascoignes who are connected by the fact that the men of the village work in the local pit. Throughout the performance, you can see the immense peril that the women have to go through with their husbands and children. This is evident when Lizzie Holroyd whose husband, Charles (Martin Marquez) who is frequent drunken mess and sadly it appears that he shows no sign of affection towards her. As well as, Minnie Gascoigne who has just got married to miner Luther (Joe Armstrong) is belligerent to cope with the fact of her new responsibilities and her husband is exceedingly moddy-coddled by his overbearing mother, Mrs Gascoigne (Susan Brown) who is causing friction with their coupling. Moreover, you can see the challenges that mothers have to face with their children even if one is highly aspirational for his future prospects where his career doesn’t involve the pit. This is shown with Lydia Lambert (Julia Ford) whose son, Ernest (Johnny Gibbon) is an avid scholar who is currently at university whereas his sister, Nellie (Tala Gouveia) is not as educated as him due to the fact that men were given more opportunities that women were not allowed to have. Over the course of the performance, Lizzie develops an attraction to electrician, Blackmore (Phillip McGinley) and this reciprocated too, in addition to this, he really likes her son, Jack (Oliver Finnegan/Tommy Rodger) which is a slight contrast to how Jack is treated by his father, Charles. The Gascogines family unit is crumbling around them as Minnie has decided to take some time apart from Luther and most importantly his mother. Yet, Luther’s younger brother, Joe (Matthew Barker) actually makes her feel welcome which is what we think she needs. Whilst Minnie was away, Luther has the audacity to chat on Minnie and when she confront him about it, he shows no signs of apology whatsoever, and if his mother is shocked by this act of adultery. Tragedy strikes in Eastwood when a horrific accident happens in the mine where there are several casualties and Lydia’s somewhat bigoted and dated husband, Walter (Lloyd Hutchinson) has to explain to Lizzie and her mother-in-law, Grandmother (Sue Wallace) that Charles has died in the accident and at the final, Charles’ deceased body is laid out on the dining table. It seems that Lizzie and Blackmore’s decision to elope to Spain takes a back seat. Lawrence’s narrative along with Power’s adaptation was beguiling as we are constantly viewing the community of Eastwood which are all experiencing a vast amount of trials and tribulations especially for the women first and foremost. Also the three individual plays that have mixed together work wonders.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘Husbands and Sons’ to be so inspired and the smaller parts such as; Maggie Pearson (Cassie Bradley) and Mrs Purdy (Josie Walker) with the main cast really encapsulated the struggles of family life and work. Anne Marie-Duff is fantastic as Lizzie Holroyd; chiefly how you can see she is painstakingly fighting a losing battle with her husband’s drinking, then again, we see a different side to her character when she is having a secret relationship with Blackmore who treats her so pleasantly. Louise Brealey is delightful as young wife, Minnie Gascoigne; expressly how the aftermath of the mine accident she cleans her husband’s wounds and this conveys a really soft and real love story between the married couple that’s a direct comparison to what is seen previously. 

Marianne Elliot’s direction is overwhelmingly charming here as she has figured out how to work with three individual plays and connect the three together to depict the brutal reality of a village that has a vast amount of problems and that no one is perfect, which is very accurate. Plus, the actual emotions in the characterisations are exceedingly realistic and elegantly placed by the execution of the movements which have been grandly directed by the show’s movement director, Scott Graham. Bunny Christies in-the-round set design is extraordinary as the three families homes are unique and individualistic with impressive scenic art, and I am a true fan of scenic art and the scenic art here is up to scratch, furthermore, the costumes are brilliantly characterised to suit each roles own personas.  Overall, the experience of, ‘Husbands and Sons’ to be a pleasing an highly engrossing production to shows mashing up three plays into one can really work and present an interesting account about family dramas.