Love on the Dole

Love on the Dole is a novel by Walter Greenwood, about working class poverty in 1930s Northern England. It has been made into both a play and film.

The Play

The novel was adapted for the stage by Ronald Gow, and opened at the Manchester Repertory Theatre in 1934, with Wendy Hiller as Sally Hardcastle. The 'real' speech and contemporary social themes were new to British audiences. One reviewer said it had been "conceived and written in blood." It toured Britain with two separate companies, playing up to three performances a day, sometimes in cinemas in towns which had no theatre. A million people had seen it by the end of 1935. Runs in London, New York and Paris followed, making a name for Hiller, who married Gow in 1936.

Related Topics:
Ronald Gow - Manchester - 1934 - Wendy Hiller - British - 1935 - London - New York - Paris - 1936

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Love on the Dole drew the British public's attention to a social problem in the UK in a similar way that Look Back in Anger, Cathy Come Home or Boys from the Blackstuff would do for future generations (although its style is closer to Hobson's Choice). The historian Stephen Constantine attributed its impact to the way it moved the mostly middle class audiences without blaming them – Gow said he "aimed to touch the heart." In 1999 it was one of the National Theatre's 100 Plays of the Century.

Related Topics:
UK - Look Back in Anger - Cathy Come Home - Boys from the Blackstuff - Hobson's Choice - Middle class - 1999 - National Theatre's

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In 1967 the play was adapted for Granada TV by John Finch. A musical versiion of the play opened at the Nottingham Playhouse in 1970, written by Terry Hughes and Robert Gray with music by Alan Fluck.

Related Topics:
Granada TV - Musical - Nottingham Playhouse

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