Story

THE STORY

The story begins at The Old Bailey courtroom in London during the infamous 1960 obscenity trial of Penguin Books Ltd. for its publication Lady Chatterley's Lover - Lawrence's most controversial and sexually explicit novel. From there we move on to tell Lawrence's story ... and what a story it is!

Set between Lawrence’s formative years in Nottingham and 1930, CENSORED is a compelling tale with an exciting and diverse musical score that captures the spirit and passion of D.H. Lawrence the man, the writer and the lover ... and the changing times in which he lived.

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 and cousin of The Red Baron - the famous WWI fighter pilot.

Frieda gives up her children and her comfortable life as the wife of a Professor at Nottingham University 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 of 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 to the core.

Labelled a "peddler of pornography", many of his books are censored or banned - but he passionately clings to his beliefs and struggles on.

Finally, penniless and with his publisher losing faith in the marketability of his work, he is falsely accused of spying for the Germans. Lawrence and Frieda have no choice but to leave England in search of a better life.

They travel but never settle for long, with Lawrence constantly drawn back to England ... the "country of my heart".

When they return in 1926, Lawrence witnesses the miners' desperate struggle for fair wages and improved working conditions and the indifference of the wealthy, greedy mine owners to the miners' plight.

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 tuberculosis, an illness he has been fighting since birth.

At the end of a life that saw much of his work censored and reviled, Lawrence - with Frieda by his side - glimpses a future where he will at last be recognised as one of the greatest English novelists of the 20th century.

We return to the Old Bailey and the trial of Lady Chatterley's Lover. A resounding "Not Guilty" verdict sets the stage for a new beginning where the spirit of D.H. Lawrence is vindicated and proudly proclaims: “I will rise like the Phoenix from the ashes of my life”.