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Lady Chatterley’s Lover
6 April 2006
In the 125th anniversary year of D H Lawrence’s birth, Buxton Opera House is delighted to be presenting its own production of Lady Chatterley’s Lover at the theatre in the last week of April. This sensitive new adaptation is by Nottinghamshire playwright Paul Hurt and remains faithful to the spirit of the novel, using much of the rich and atmospheric language of the original text, resulting in a moving production which brings to life one of literature’s most passionate and memorable love affairs. Undoubtedly Lawrence’s most controversial work, this beautiful, tender and sensual tale about love across the class divide is at the Opera House from Wednesday 26 to Saturday 29 April before embarking on a-25 date national tour. Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned under the Obscene Publications Act in the UK for more than 30 years before Penguin finally published it in 1960. It was a sell-out within hours as 200,000 copies were cleared from shop shelves and the now infamous trial that followed caused a media frenzy. Unapologetically explicit, Lady Chatterley’s Lover tells the story of Connie – Constance Reid – a young, wealthy married woman locked in a frustrating and sexless marriage. When she finds solace in the arms of Oliver Mellors, a gamekeeper on her husband’s estate, the forbidden affair causes a social scandal. Before long, an eruption of class hostility, jealousy, hate and greed threatens to overwhelm their fragile relationship.Buxton Opera House began producing its own drama productions just last year, and Lady Chatterley will be the theatre’s second venture, after its acclaimed contemporary telling of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the 150-foot Dome of the University of Derby’s Buxton campus in October 2005. Lady Chatterley’s Lover will be the Opera House’s first-ever UK tour, and marks yet another milestone in the remarkable recent history of Derbyshire’s leading theatre. The same production and artistic team of Opera House Chief Executive, Andrew Aughton (who will be Producer), director Yvonne Hurt and writer Paul Hurt, have come together again for Lady Chatterley, and have created a new adaptation, which uses the original narrative text as well as the dialogue, and features the figure of Lawrence himself in the guise of narrator.
Producer Andrew Aughton said: “Although we are still very young as a producing company, we hope that we are already building a recognisable style – which is of highly physical, intimate and atmospheric versions of classic texts. Our audiences for A Midsummer Night’s Dream were astounded at the visual beauty and imaginative thought which the creative team had brought to the production, and I am sure our audiences around the country for Lady Chatterley’s Lover will be no less impressed.”
Lady Chatterley’s Lover is set against the backdrop of the tense and turbulent period after the First World War and is performed in the traditional dress of the day. A simple and striking set features different backdrops and doorways evoking the sense of separation between different worlds and classes, and employs the use of atmospheric projection effects. Please note that this production contains scenes of an explicit nature including nudity. Tickets for Lady Chatterley’s Lover are priced from £10 to £15 and concessions are available. To make a booking please contact the Box Office on 0845 127 2190.
