The Daughter-in-Law


The Daughter-in-Law is the first play by D. H. Lawrence, completed in January 1913. Lawrence described it as "neither a tragedy nor a comedy - just ordinary". It was neither staged nor published in his lifetime.
The first stage production, by Peter Gill at the Royal Court Theatre in 1967, contributed to a reappraisal of Lawrence's dramatic writing. In 1968 The Times Literary Supplement said it was "a fine and moving piece of work" that "ought to be as well known as Sons and Lovers and the best Nottinghamshire stories". In 2012 the critic Michael Billington described it as "quite extraordinary... one of the great British dramas of the 20th century".

Characters

The play premiered on 16 March 1967 at the Royal Court Theatre, London, directed by Peter Gill. The cast comprised Gabrielle Daye, Anne Dyson, Victor Henry, Judy Parfitt and Mike Pratt.