by Patricia Riley
When Githa Sowerby's first play, Rutherford & Son, made its debut in London's West End in 1912, critics hailed her as a talent to compare with Ibsen. At a time when women were commonly believed to be put on this earth to bear children and run the home, she broke the mould. And yet within her own lifetime this unique Tyneside playwright; the grand-daughter of the founder of Gateshead's world-famous Sowerby's Ellison Glass Works, faded from public view. Published to coincide with the first ever Tyneside production of Rutherford & Son, this long overdue biography is the first ever to examine Githa Sowerby's life and works.
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