Set between 1901 and 1930, Scandalous! is a compelling story with an exciting and
diverse musical score that captures the spirit and passion of D.H. Lawrence
the man, the writer and the lover.
From humble beginnings as a Nottinghamshire miner's son, David Herbert Lawrence finally breaks away from the stifling love of his mother, Lydia, and the brooding intensity of his girlfriend, Jessie, to pursue his quest as a writer.
This is a story of hope, restlessness and rejection set against a profoundly moving and turbulent public love affair with Frieda von Richthofen, a German baroness.
Frieda gives up her children and her comfortable life as a Professor's wife to embark on a tumultuous roller-coaster ride with Lawrence, the working-class genius.
Inspired firstly by his life and the people in his home town, Eastwood, Lawrence writes Sons and Lovers, then The Rainbow, then Women in Love. His writing is new and brave, spontaneous and passionate, sexually explicit, and often scandalous! ... it rocks the establishment.
Labelled a "peddler of pornography", each one of his books are rejected and banned - but he passionately clings to his beliefs and struggles on.
Finally, penniless and with no hope of his work being published, and even accused of spying for the Germans, Lawrence and Frieda leave England in search of a better life. They travel but never settle for long, with Lawrence constantly drawn to England ... the "country of my heart".
When they return in 1926, Lawrence witnesses the miners' desperate fight for fair wages and rights against the might and greed of the wealthy mine owners. This inspires him to write what will become the most daring and notorious novel of its day.
As the first edition of Lady Chatterley’s Lover rolls off the press, Lawrence finally collapses from an illness he has been fighting since birth.
At the end of a life of some rejoicing and much rejection, and with Frieda by his side, Lawrence glimpses a future where he will at last be recognised as one of the greatest English novelists of the 20th century:
“I will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes of my life".
Scenes from GSA production
Music & Lyrics by GLYN BAILEY. Book by GLYN BAILEY, KEITH THOMAS and THEASA TUOHY
Visit www.dh-lawrence.org for a fascinating and very readable biography of Lawrence,
written by Dr. John Worthen, Emeritus Professor of D.H. Lawrence Studies at Nottingham University.
