Rutherford & Son
By Githa Sowerby
Edited for Northern Broadsides by Blake Morrison
Directed by Jonathan Miller and designed by Isabella Bywater
Your father is a control freak
The family business is a millstone round your neck
Home feels like a prison
And yet you have dreams…
Directed by Jonathan Miller, Rutherford & Son is a powerful portrayal of an industrial Edwardian family on the brink of collapse.
John Rutherford is a tyrannical patriarch who places the success of his glassworks, Rutherford & Son, over everything, even the hopes and happiness of his family. Clinging to his traditional views in the face of accelerating social change, Rutherford jeopardises the very empire he wishes to defend.
Echoing the shifting nature of class boundaries and the growing call for women’s rights in pre-war Britain, Rutherford & Son portrays a world, and a man, on the brink of extinction.
Ranked by the National Theatre as one of the Top One Hundred Plays of the Century, there are few dramas as deeply human, uncompromising and immediately rewarding as this. Northern Broadsides, directed for the first time by the renowned director Jonathan Miller, brings its trademark performance style to this astonishing play.
Barrie Rutter was born to play the role of Rutherford **** Guardian
Rutherford & Son is again a must-see, worth-debating event... Miller’s production is beautifully attentive to the play’s richness of ideas and complexity of moods... **** Telegraph
A ferocious revival **** Sunday Times
OPINION
Jonathan Miller and Blake Morrison promise to be a winning combination. This should be a fascinating evening in the theatre, with many resonances to today’s society.
Venue: Main Stage | Category: Drama | Running Time: : Approx 2 hours 30 minutes including interval