''On the Rocks'' is a 2008 play written by

Amy Rosenthal Amy Rosenthal (born 1974) is a British playwright from Muswell Hill, London. She is a recipient of ''The Sunday Times'' Drama Award. Biography Amy Rosenthal was born in 1974, the daughter of dramatist Jack Rosenthal and actress Maureen Lipman ...

and directed by

Clare Lizzimore Clare Lizzimore (born 1980) is a British theatre director and writer. Her production of 'Bull' by Mike Bartlett, won 'Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre' at the 2015 Olivier Awards. Lizzimore has been resident director at the Citize ...

about real events surrounding novelist, short story writer, poet and playwright

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

in the tiny village of Zennor in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in 1916 in the middle of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It played at the Hampstead Theatre in London from 1 to 26 July 2008. It was shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 2009.

Abstract

D. H. Lawrence and his wife Frieda are living a shaky relationship with the overpowering Frieda missing her children, whom she abandoned for the writer, and fighting with Lawrence. The local coastguards, also suspect that Frieda, a cousin of

Manfred von Richthofen Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (; 2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), known in English as Baron von Richthofen or the Red Baron, was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of ...

, the Red Baron air ace, is a German spy and is sending signals from the cliffs to U-boats in the channel. In these turbulent times, the Lawrences invite their best, and by now almost only remaining friends, the critic and editor John Middleton Murry and the short-story writer Katherine Mansfield to come and join them in the cottage. For Lawrence, this was a step on the road to his ideal of Rananim – a utopia where one could be happy with a group of friends. As things develop, Lawrence and Frieda engage in violent fights followed by love-making sessions on the floor. Lawrence suggests that Murry becomes his blood brother, while Mansfield has writer's block, a situation Rosenthal passed through for six years before writing this play. Mansfield, after an enforced intimacy with Frieda, puts an end to the social experiment, leaving Lawrence with a permanent sense of betrayal.

Cast

* Ed Stoppard as

DH Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

Tracy-Ann Oberman Tracy-Ann Oberman (born Tracy Anne Oberman; 25 August 1966) is an English actress, playwright and narrator. She is widely known for roles including Chrissie Watts in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' (2004–2005) and Valerie Lewis or "Auntie V ...

as Frieda Lawrence, D.H. Lawrence's wife *

Nick Caldecott Nick Caldecott (born 5 June 1968) is a British stage actor. Caldecott was born in Northern Ireland. His early career began at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester where he appeared in productions of Lady Windermere's Fan, the 1997 premiere of ...

John Middleton Murry John Middleton Murry (6 August 1889 – 12 March 1957) was an English writer. He was a prolific author, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime. ...

*Charlotte Emmerson as Katherine Mansfield

Personnel

*Director: Clare Lizzimore *Writer:

*Designer: Paul Burgess *Lighting designer: Jon Clark *Sound designer: Edward Lewis

References

{{reflist 2008 plays D. H. Lawrence