THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW at Sheffield Crucible

Philip McGinley and Andrew Hawley star in D H Lawrence's landmark 1912 play THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre.  The production, directed by Crucible Associate Director Paul Miller, plays until 23rd March.

Set in an industrial Derbyshire town during the 1912 coal miners’ strike, the play deals with issues of gender equality, class and family ties.  After their long courtship the Gascoignes’ short honeymoon is well and truly over. Ambitious Minnie is still trying to disentangle miner Luther from his mother’s apron strings when a pre-marital dalliance makes a reappearance and blows the marriage apart. Will his mother have to pick up the pieces? Or will events at the pit decide all their fates for them?

The bonds between a mother and her sons, between husband and wife, between desire and freedom, are stretched to breaking point...

Mcginley and Hawley “invigorate their characters perfectly”
– Libby Purves, The Times ****

“ Miller directs this new production for the Crucible with the theatrical equivalent of musical rubato, leaving silences so long that they feel fraught with danger. It is a risky tactic, but the audience remains rapt.”
– Jane Shilling, The Telegraph ****