Family at war saved by strong cast

Rutherford and Son, Lowry, Salford
WHEN this was a major hit, in 1912, it was something of a triumph for irony: the entirely male national press praised the early feminist storyline in ways that made it clear none of them at first thought a woman could have written it.

But Githa Sowerby’s drama, partly based on her own family and now one of the National Theatre’s top 100 English plays, remains fascinating. As a close-up view of family tensions, it begins to rival Ibsen and Chekhov.

In Northern Broadsides’s production — directed by Jonathan Miller — company boss Barrie Rutter plays Rutherford, a bluff miserable, intolerant man who has spent a lifetime building up his company to pass on when he dies. In the process he has alienated his whingeing sons, curate Richard and clueless inventor son John, and his old-maid daughter Janet; none of them really wants what he has made their lives miserable to give them.

The company is going under: Rutherford needs the new metal John has developed — but the young man, married and with a young son, disloyally refuses to hand it over.

Rutherford argues that saving the company and gaining ultimate control of its fortune is worth more than a few thousand pounds up front; John disagrees — and when the recipe is wheedled out of loyal worker Martin, the only other man who knows it, John exits, leaving his wife and baby son behind.

Which is where the play gets really interesting: the worm turns, a deal is done and Rutherford gets his legatee anyway.

As a look at the way drama was developing in the brave new world after the turn of the 20th century, Sowerby’s work is truly interesting. But as a play it leaves a little to be desired.

It feels long — not helped by cramming two of the three acts in before the interval — and is played out in the perpetual gloom of a Yorkshire winter. Sowerby was not the most exciting plot developer and the evening does have dull interludes.

But overall it is saved by four strong performances: Coliseum favourite Catherine Kinsella as the new daughter-in-law; Sara Poyzer as the embittered Janet, Richard Standing as Janet’s not-so-secret lover Martin, and above them all Barrie Rutter as Rutherford.

This is a part made for him: overbearing and casually rude, a shouty, wily character perfectly suited to his stocky frame and mannered style.