Revival of Githa Sowerby’s 1912 classic of industrial patriarchy Rutherford and Son is worthy but rather cumbersome and inaccessible.
REVIEW ROUND-UP: Rutherford & Son at the National Theatre
Love London Love Culture rounds up the reviews for Polly Findlay’s production of Rutherford & Son at the National Theatre starring Roger Allam.
‘Beautifully well-observed character study of a dynasty under threat’: RUTHERFORD & SON – National Theatre ★★★★
Githa Sowerby used her own upbringing as the daughter of a Tyneside glass-making family for her breakthrough play, Rutherford and Son, but whether her father was as cold, insensitive and bullying as patriarch John Rutherford is open to speculation.
‘If this show is saved at all, it’s by some of the acting’: RUTHERFORD & SON – National Theatre
Rutherford and Son is not my cup of tea. The acting does just about salvage it, or at least stop it from being a complete disaster, but it’s not enough.
NEWS: National Theatre announces new season including cast of 40 for stage adaptation of Andrea Levy’s Small Island
Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Leah Harvey and Aisling Loftus lead the cast of Small Island, adapted by Helen Edmundson from Andrea Levy’s prize-winning novel, directed by Rufus Norris in the Olivier Theatre, as part of the National Theatre’s new season.
NEWS: Richard Hawley, Dan Gillespie Sells & Kiss Me Kate feature in new Sheffield season
Sheffield Theatres’ new season includes Standing at the Sky’s Edge by Michael Wynne, with music and lyrics by Richard Hawley; A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Robert Hastie with music by Dan Gillespie Sells; and this year’s Christmas musical Kiss Me, Kate.