Lawrence's Cornish ego trip

Amy Rosenthal's entertaining comedy is based on events which took place in the village of Zennor, Cornwall, in 1916 when Lawrence and his wife Frieda invited their friends, the short story writer Katherine Mansfield and her husband, critic John Middleton Murray, to join them for a communal life.

Lawrence, an exhibitionist, needed to have somebody around to watch his violent quarrels with his wife and his sexual athleticism on the kitchen floor.

He shoved a broken bottle in Frieda's face and produced a dirty knife, suggesting that he and Murray make a blood pact. His sado-masochistic energy was inexhaustible.

He expected Murray to be at his beck and call. Mansfield, who had writer's block, hated feeling that he had to defer to Lawrence rather than to her and would leave her on her own while they went on long walks.

The Cornish locals presumed that Frieda was a spy and harassed her at every opportunity.

Mansfield loathed Frieda and resented being treated as if she were a guest in her own house. She longed to get back to London.

One of Rosenthal's funniest moments anticipates the homoerotic scene in Lawrence's novel Women in Love, which was memorably filmed by Ken Russell and had Alan Bates and Oliver Reed wrestling naked in a candle-lit baronial hall.

The nudity was extremely good for the box office in 1969, but it was the amplified crunching sound of the two men's bodies hitting the parquet flooring which really shocked audiences.

Nick Caldecott's subtle performance is just right for Murray. The prudishness and fastidiousness are very amusing, especially when he very slowly takes off his clothes and folds them up neatly.

The actors are well cast, though they do occasionally sound as if they are quoting from speeches and letters rather than just talking.

Ed Stoppard is totally convincing as Lawrence. Tracy-Ann Oberman, as the garrulous Frieda, puts on a German accent which is initially impenetrable.

Charlotte Emmerson's Mansfield comes across as the most sensible person in the group. She had so much love to give, but it was wasted on squeamish Murray.

On the Rocks will be of interest to anybody who is interested in Lawrence and his circle.

Plays until July 26. Box office: (020) 7722-9301.

ROBERT TANITCH