A performance that starts as abruptly as it ends, Lady Chatterley's Lover is a show full of passion, drama and defiance.

Staged at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford, the once-banned, controversial story by DH Lawrence, has been adapted into a classy portrayal of female need, want and desire.

Coronation Street's Rupert Hill stars alongside Phoebe Marshall in this wonderful depiction of class divides and the bridging of segregation.

Beautiful set designs really allow you to immerse yourself in the post-war setting of the Chatterley's country home, Wragby, and swift character development really brings the scandalous tale to life.

With a multi-story narrative laced throughout, it was particularly hard to sympathise with just one single character.

Audience members are urged to feel the pain Mr Chatterley is suffering from after returning from the First World War, paralysed and struggling to cope from the horrors of post-traumatic stress disorder as we would know it today.

But, it's only natural to pity Connie, his wife, who wants to feel nothing more than the love she feels following an affair with Wragby's ground keeper, Mellors.

Lady Chatterley's Lover is a play that will spark discussion and opinion as you leave the theatre and regardless of its lustful scenes, the story gives a powerful message about discrimination and sexism, which is still applicable to this day.

Suitable for the romantic and the activist, Lady Chatterley's Lover is showing at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford, from Thursday, February 20 to Saturday, February 22.

Book at orchardtheatre.co.uk or call 01322 220000.

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