Mint Theater's RUTHERFORD & SON Closes April 8th

The Mint Theater's production of Rutherford & Son by Githa Sowerby at the Mint's home in the heart of the theater district closes on April 8th.

Richard Corley directs a cast that features Robert Hogan as Rutherford, as well as Dale Soules (Broadway: Hair, The Magic Show, The Crucible, and most recently Grey Gardens), David Van Pelt (Cobb at the Lucille Lortel),  Eli James (Temporal Powers), Allison Mclemore (The Madras House), James Patrick Nelson (Three Sisters at CSC), Sandra Shipley (Broadway: Importance of Being Earnest, Blithe Spirit, Equus, more), and Sara Surrey (Lost In Yonkers at Papermill).

Rutherford & Son, set in the industrial north of England, tells the story of a father determined to do whatever it takes to ensure the success and succession of the family glassworks, started by his own father, but now in danger of shattering.  John Rutherford rules home and business with an iron fist, a tyrant who inspires fear in his workers and hatred in his grown children.  Now rebellion is brewing.  His eldest son, working in secret has discovered a process that could save the firm, cutting costs by one third-but he refuses to share it with his father unless he "gets his price."

"This acute play shows how by striking hard bargains and always winning a man may lose everything. The play is as skillful as blown glass.  It is a subtle meditation on ownership, justice, and loyalty," wrote Kate Kellaway in The Observer, reviewing the National Theater's 1994 production. Charles Spencer wrote in The Daily Telegraph, "it is far better than most of Shaw and easily stands comparison with another Edwardian masterpiece, Harley Granville Barker's The Voysey Inheritance… A great play has been reclaimed." "Sowerby knew what she was talking about," wrote Lyn Gardner in The Guardian of a 2009 production.  "The amazing thing is that she did it so blatantly and with such flair almost 100 years ago, when women were seen but seldom heard on British stages."

Rutherford & Son was scheduled for only four performances when it opened at London's Royal Court Theatre on January 31, 1912.  Critical response was so enthusiastic it quickly transferred to the West End. The New York premiere in 1912 equally impressed American critics.

When Rutherford & Son premiered critics were astounded that a play of such depth and exquisite stagecraft could be penned by a first-time playwright.  The London Times predicted a future "full of promise" for this preternaturally talented writer-known at this point only as "K.G. Sowerby." What did "K.G." stand for?  No one knew for sure until the author-Katherine Githa Sowerby-came forward.  That a woman had written such a brilliant, brutal drama made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.  The Times of London referred to Githa as a "girl-dramatist" and observed: "She is the last person in the world one would expect to find as the author of so grim, powerful and closely-thought out drama of business.  Instead of looking as if she wrote this play, she is a young, pretty, fair-haired girl, refined of speech and dainty in dress, who seems far better suited to a drawing room than to the dramatist's work room."

The press painted her as an English rose who'd stumbled into playwriting-and Githa, a private person who dreaded interviews, did little to correct them.  Her diffident answers only added to the misconception. Indeed, Githa was neither as naïve, nor as young, as the press assumed. Githa kept her history private-and it nearly went with her to her grave.  Shortly before her death in 1970, Githa burned her personal papers.  By that time, both her and her work had been forgotten.  None of her plays after Rutherford & Son had achieved acclaim; even Rutherford disappeared from the repertory.  When The National Theatre revivEd Rutherford & Son in 1994, inspiring new interest in Githa, her biography remained a mystery. With the publication of Looking for Githa by Patricia Riley two years ago concrete details of Githa's life and family history finally emerged.

 "The Mint does for forgotten drama what the Encores! series does for musicals, on far more modest means" (The New York Times).  The Mint was awarded an OBIE for "combining the excitement of discovery with the richness of tradition," and a special Drama Desk Award for "unearthing, presenting and preserving forgotten plays of merit." Ben Brantley, in The New York Times Arts & Leisure (August 21st, 2011) hailed the Mint as the "resurrectionist extraordinaire of forgotten plays."

Performances for Rutherford & Son are Tuesday through Thursday at 7 PM, Friday at 8 PM, Saturday at 2 PM & 8 PM, and Sunday at 2 PM. Tickets are $55.  All performances take place on the Third Floor of 311 West 43rd Street.  Tickets are available by calling 866/811-4111 or at www.minttheater.org.

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