Rutherford & Son

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...

This powerful drama written and set in the North of England, 1912, is an unflinching portrayal of an industrial Edwardian family on the brink of collapse.

John Rutherford is a tyrannical patriarch, blind to the hopes and feelings of his family. The success of the family-owned glassworks, Rutherford & Son, takes precedence over everything … even happiness.

In a household run on fear cracks begin to appear. The emotional pitch builds up like a pressure cooker. The dramatic voltage intensifies as Rutherford's absolute authority is challenged and a catastrophic family mutiny begins to unfold, threatening to destroy
his world and his factory.

Northern Broadsides, directed for the first time by the renowned director Jonathan Miller, bring its trademark gritty, no nonsense performance style to this astonishing play that sees Artistic Director, Barrie Rutter, taking the role of the imperious John Rutherford.

"Barrie Rutter was born to play the role of Rutherford"
The Guardian (4 Stars)

"a must-see, worth-debating event... Miller's production is beautifully attentive to the play's richness of ideas and complexity of moods"
The Daily Telegraph (4 Stars)

"A superb production"
whatsonstage.com (Michael Coveney)

"straightforward, powerful drama"
The Stage