Synopsis

A miner’s cottage in a working-class English community, where domestic tensions simmer beneath the surface.

Lizzie Holroyd, trapped in an unhappy marriage to the drunken, abusive Charles, finds herself drawn to the gentler Blackmore, an electrician at the mine. When Charles brings home two loose women from Nottingham, Lizzie reaches her breaking point. The next day, Charles is killed in a mining accident, leaving Lizzie to grapple with guilt, grief, and the harsh realities of her circumstances.

Lawrence’s play explores the complexities of working-class life, marital discord, and the weight of societal expectations. Through Lizzie’s struggle to reconcile her desire for a better life with her duty as a wife and mother, the play examines themes of love, guilt, and the human capacity for change. The stark realism of the mining community creates a powerful portrait of early 20th-century working-class England.