★★★★☆There are imperious patriarchs and then there is John Rutherford, the industrialist antagonist of Githa Sowerby’s landmark play from 1912. The National Theatre’s oppressive but inspiring revival is far more than a one-man show. Yet it is Roger Allam’s northern powerhouse of a central performance that sets its weather. So his son John Jr wants proper payment for the invention that might save the family glassmaking factory on the Tyne? We see the terrific Sam Troughton, as John Jr, go from bumptious braggart to wavering adolescent as he faces his father.

Source: The Times May 28, 2019 23:32 UTC