Details

So desperate were audiences to see Love on the Dole that in towns without a theatre it would play twice daily in cinemas. By the end of 1935 this 'dangerous play' had been seen by more than a million people. Greenwood's 1934 classic about life in a northern town during the Thirties depression. The Great Depression has gripped everyone in Hanky Park, Lancashire. Despite the joy of her recent engagement, Sally Hardcastle and her family are struggling to make ends meet. Her brother, Harry, faces an uncertain future: out of work, a baby on the way and facing the dreaded Means Test. When a powerful rival for Sally's affection makes his feelings known, she's offered the chance to save her family from being torn apart. But can Sally sacrifice her integrity to secure the happiness of the people she loves? Love on the Dole was a landmark play in British Theatre and was voted one of the National Theatre's Best 100 Plays of the Twentieth Century.

Creatives/Company

Author(s): Walter Greenwood, Ronald Gow
Company: East
Director: Julian Weber