Dining with Early 20th-Century Playwrights
Romano’s diners will find themselves tucking into a Wild Mushroom Vol-au-Vent under the watchful eyes of early-20th century playwrights.
Some, like JM Barrie, are familiar. Others, such as KG Sowerby, are less so. Katherine Githa Sowerby (1876-1970) was a feminist and children’s writer whose poetry and short stories were illustrated by her sister Millicent Sowerby. She occasionally wrote for the theatre and in 1912, churned out a bona fide sensation. Perhaps you might remember it?
The Story Behind Rutherford and Son
Rutherford and Son was her critique of the industrial patriarchy; its protagonist runs a glass factory in Northern England, and over the course of the drama, he manages to enrage just about everyone in his orbit.
When Rutherford and Son debuted at the Vaudeville Theatre, it did so under the playwright’s initials, so most assumed it was written by a man. When, upon its success, Sowerby was revealed to be a woman, she achieved sudden celebrity.
The play was produced in New York, Australia, and Canada and translated into Russian, German, and Bohemian. Unlike its author, who faded into obscurity in her later years, Rutherford and Son has been revisited several times over the decades, most recently at The National Theatre in 2019, with Roger Allam starring as Rutherford.
Katherine Githa Sowerby’s Legacy
Although Sowerby married and had one daughter, Joan, who died in 2013, it seems that her direct line has come to an end, although she did come from a large family of prominent artists and naturalists, leaving behind a broader creative legacy.
We are delighted to bring her back into the conversation at Romano’s, so next time you drop in, do give her a nod.
