Rutherford & Son @ The Garrick Playhouse

A Very Commendable Performance

A technically challenging and archetypal script, the Garrick Playhouse tackled Githa Sowerby’s Rutherford and Son with confidence and class. Opening with the classic brass band hymn Aberystwyth over the speakers, the beautiful set took the audience back to the Edwardian North of England. The set consisted of a well-staged living room full of heavy-set fabrics reminiscent of a nouveau-riche Northern family in a time of class status shift. Sowerby’s script, with its subtle feminist undertones, was brought to life by the women of this production.

Ali Davenport as Janet 

Ali Davenport as Janet was flawless, doing Sowerby proud in the semi-autobiographical role, and the quiet strength of character portrayed by Parissa Zamanpour as Mary was politically rousing.

John Keen as John with Richard Sails as Rutherford

Unfortunately, their male counterparts were not so strong. Our titular character Mr Rutherford, played by Richard Sails, required several prompts which interrupted the flow of dialogue, however his fellow cast members supported him throughout. One issue that came up rather consistently was that of accents. Although the choice of pronunciations had clearly been well considered, and some cast members navigated them with ease and sounded perfectly natural, there were some accents that were too thick to understand the dialogue, or that sounded more as a caricature of the region than the true accent. This was the case for Harrow-educated John, played by John Keen, who unfortunately was portrayed rather woodenly, as opposed to retaining depth to the character. That being said, one would have assumed that Julie Cunningham as Mrs Henderson was born in a coal pit deep in the heart of Lancashire, as her comedic use of the humorous nature of the dialect was excellent. 

A production that was not without its faults, but very commendable. As one gentleman said in the bar, “It did exactly what we expected it to!”