Work in Progress

Sons and Lovers – Greenhouse Theatre

It’s true that the very best writers use experiences from their own lives to inspire their writing. English author D.H. Lawrence, whose early twentieth century novels like Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Women in Love, Mr. Noon and The Rainbow shocked and entertained readers during this Age of Innocence. But it’s also true that his stories are all very intimately bound up with his own life. But none of his novels is more autobiographical than Sons and Lovers.

This is Lawrence writing about his life and recreating scenes from his own experience, but fictionalizing it. He began writing the book in 1910, finally finishing the novel two years later. The story underwent lots of revisions, including the title, and was influenced by many personal crises that occurred during this period. Lawrence ended a long relationship with Jesse Chambers (who’d serve as the model for his character, Miriam Leivers); he became engaged to, and then broke up with, another woman, Louie Burrows (who would be the inspiration for the character of Clara Dawes); he lost his mother to cancer, became seriously ill with pneumonia, gave up teaching and moved away from his birthplace, taking with him his art.

But this is a story that’s mainly derived from the author’s Oedipus complex. When Lydia was a young woman she lost her first love to another woman. Instead, she settled for Walter Morel, a boorish, but passionate lower class man, who worked long hours in the Midland mines. As her sons William and Paul grew up, Lydia doted on them to the point where Walter became brow-beaten and essentially ignored. She redirected all of her ardor and passion to her sons, and they, in turn, become her lovers. As William and Paul grew to manhood, they weren’t able to love any other women because their mother’s hold over them was so strong.

Created in 2003, Mike Brayndick founded the On The Spot Theatre Company to “develop and stage new plays for performance.” Brayndick is responsible for writing and directing many of the company’s original works, as well as producing his theatrical treatments of such literary classics as Balzac’s Pere Goriot and Turgenev’s Home of the Gentry. Although this adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s autobiographical novel toured England, this U.S. premiere of the play is just now being co-presented by the Greenhouse Theater Center.
At almost two-and-a-half hours, Brayndick’s drama closely follows Lawrence’s book. It leaves out very little, which is both a strength and a weakness of this script. The production feels choppy. It’s episodic, much like the novel; but, as a play, the drama doesn’t flow smoothly. A decision to insert a couple songs and a dance, may have been an attempt to lighten the heavy drama, but seems superfluous and only serves to slow the momentum of the story. Scenes should flow easily from one to another, rather than stopping the action, lowering the lights and waiting for an actor to emerge. The energy level dies when this happens. Quite possibly, another director who’s not as close to the script could more objectively guide this production. The closeness to his own material doesn’t afford Mike Brayndick a chance to truly see his play without prejudice. While wearing the hat of the director, it’s difficult to separate the playwright from his creation.

Other problems are technical. Saddled with the Greenhouse Theater’s tiny studio venue, Pat Henderson attempts to modestly recreate every locale in the book/play with her sprawling scenic design. Kudos to turning an obtrusive, structural pillar in the venue into a tree trunk, while peppering her set with similar foliage. A better design choice might’ve been to let the story continuously flow upon a blank stage, possibly framed by an evocative backdrop, and utilizing just a few, simple, multipurpose set pieces. Michele Brayndick’s costumes make an admirable attempt to reflect the drama’s class, period and setting. Her best work is with the men’s wardrobe, although some pieces could be better tailored. But when, amidst a nicely-chosen palette of grays and browns, a blinding pink skirt or a 1960’s blue taffeta prom dress suddenly appears onstage, it jolts the audience out of the story. Perhaps dressing her cast in simpler costumes, maybe adding an accessory here and there to indicate a time or character change, would be equally economical and just as effective. There are also difficulties with Tyler King’s lighting. While often his illumination helps create the moodiness of the story, sometimes a character stands in complete shadow, as happens to Brian Boller’s eloquent narrator.

The cast, many of whom play multiple roles, ranges from good to adequate. In addition to Miles Borchard’s handsome and earnest portrayal of the author’s stand-in, the exasperating Paul Morel, Amy Gray stands out as Lydia, the strongly-opinionated, manipulating matriarch of the Morel family. Emma Brayndick creates a multilayered, intoxicating Clara Dawes; Corrie Riedl, who sports a lovely singing voice, plays a sympathetic, intellectually spunky Miriam Leivers; and Stephen Dunn makes the most of Paul’s father, Walter Morel, a one-note character who struggles through his abusiveness to show some affection to his wife and sons.

D.H. Lawrence’s autobiographical novel seems ripe for a theatrical dramatization. It’s already been adapted into a successful 1960’s film, and there are two stylish BBC television serializations available on DVD. It must be remembered, however, that, although related, a play is a different medium. Mike Brayndick’s cinematic production might’ve been more effective and powerful if he’d considered that less is often more. Some of the incidents in this 400+ page novel could easily have been omitted. A more objective director could bring a fresh view to this production. He could see the problems in the script and work with the playwright to smooth the flow of this drama. And if the staging was kept simpler, along with a more Spartan scenic design and costuming, the overall effect would probably be stronger. The way this production currently plays out makes this adaptation of D.H. Lawrence’s novel feel more like a promising work in progress.

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas   

Presented August 29-September 29 by the On The Spot Theatre Company and The Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 773-404-7336 or by going to www.greenhousetheater.org.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.