Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with the National's RUTHERFORD AND SON

In a Northern industrial town, John Rutherford rules both factory and family with an iron will. But even as the furnaces burn relentlessly at the Glassworks, at home his children begin to turn against him.

Githa Sowerby's astonishing play was inspired by her own experience of growing up in a family-run factory in Gateshead. Writing in 1912, when female voices were seldom heard on British stages, she now claims her place alongside Ibsen and Shaw with this searing depiction of class, gender and generational warfare.

Roger Allam (Les Miserables, The Thick of It) returns to the National for the first time in a decade to play Rutherford in this new production directed by Polly Findlay (Beginning). Justine Mitchell joins Roger Allam in the role of Janet Rutherford.

Further casting includes: Joe Armstrong, Harry Hepple, Barbara Marten, Sally Rogers, Sam Troughton and Anjana Vasan.

Set and costume design by Lizzie Clachan, lighting design by Charles Balfour, movement direction by Polly Bennett, sound design by Paul Arditti, and music by Kerry Andrew.

Photo Credit: Johan Persson