Experimentalism and Ideology in D.H. Lawrence's Theatre

D. H. Lawrence’s theatre production can be referred to different dramatic models. In his early works (1906-1913) the two groups of the “colliery plays” and the comedies The Merry-Go-Round, The Married Man and The Fight for Barbara present evident similarities as to setting and characters from a mining community, as well as to family and emotional conflicts. However, the dramatic discourse of the first group is structured in a way openly reminiscent of Chekhov’s theatre, reproducing forms of everyday life; in the second group the naturalist elements are combined both with typical aspects of the “comedy of manners” and Shakespeare’s romantic comedies. After World War I Lawrence resumed his interest in writing plays with Touch and Go (1918), moving towards a new form of theatre, partly anticipating Bertolt Brecht’s expressionist theories. In 1925, taking inspiration from the Bible, he wrote his last play, David, where he develops the epic form further. An investigation of both the ideological dimension and the dramatic treatment of Lawrence’s play is offered in the present essay.