Rutherford & Son at The Lyttleton

I’m all for using regional accents in productions; that is as long as you can understand what the actors are saying.  Unfortunately, Rutherford & Son, the 1912 play by Githa Sowerby now on at The Lyttleton, doesn’t always tick that box.  As is to be expected, every word uttered by Roger Allam (he with the exquisite voice) as John Rutherford and Sam Troughton as his eldest son John Jnr is as clear as a bell.  Those spoken by a few of the other cast members …. not so much.  And my oh my, what a depressing play this is.

On entering the auditorium it’s clear that what will follow won’t be a bundle of laughs.  There is rain pouring down on the very dimly lit stage and offstage singers treat us to discordant songs bemoaning the north country.

Githa Sowerby obviously knew a thing or two about Northumberland at the beginning of the twentieth century.  Her family owned a glass making company on Tyneside which, thanks to a lack of business acumen on behalf of her father, floundered when Gina was in her late twenties.  It is therefore no surprise that Rutherford & Son, her first play, is based around John Rutherford, the owner of a glass making business.  A patriarchal figure, under no illusion that whatever he says is right, John Rutherford rules his three children with a rod of iron.  Although not prone to shouting, he makes it perfectly clear that what he says goes and anyone who disagrees with him or is apt to sully the Rutherford name, will be out on their ear.  Indeed, by the end of the play, the three children have all gone, leaving behind his sister Ann (the, I’m sorry to say, incomprehensible Barbara Marten), daughter-in-law Mary (Anjana Vasan) and baby grandson Tony.  Virtually ignored by her father-in-law throughout the play, her decision to stay behind with her son is pivotal to the plot.

John Jnr, having been thwarted by his father into trying to save the business through a new invention, decides to chance his arm in Canada.  His younger brother, Richard (Harry Hepple) despised by Rutherford due to his decision to shun glassmaking and take up the church, leaves to preach elsewhere. The interaction between him and his father highlights the fact that Rutherford Senior is sadly lacking in the moral compass department.  Meanwhile Janet (Justine Mitchell), the strong-willed daughter, is banished, having done the unspeakable and fallen for employee Martin (Joe Armstrong).

As I’ve mentioned, thank goodness for the bearded Roger Allum who perfectly encapsulates Rutherford’s absolute horror of social failure and inability to show any hint of warmth.  Sam Troughton highlights his character’s nervous hysteria, whilst Justine Mitchell as the sullen daughter who eventually rebels and Harry Hepple as her brother Richard, equip themselves well.

There is no doubting the importance of Rutherford & Son, written as it was by a woman before the ‘fairer sex’ even had the right to vote and one who was brave enough to incorporate feminism and socialism within the script.  But, Lizzie Clachan’s, undoubtedly atmospheric, but melancholic set and Director Polly Findlay’s determination to give the production total realism in the dialect department, means that it’s a dour three hours.