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The Stepmother, theatre review: Superlative Sowerby steps back into the spotlight at last

A marriage in crisis: Ophelia Lovibond and Will Keen impress in The Stepmother: catherine ashmore
A marriage in crisis: Ophelia Lovibond and Will Keen impress in The Stepmother: catherine ashmore

Where on earth has Githa Sowerby been hiding all this time? Or perhaps the question should be: where/why has the predominantly male theatrical establishment down the decades been hiding this superlative female playwright, whose best-known drama Rutherford and Son was voted one of the 100 most influential plays of the 20th century?

With a fine cast that includes rising star Ophelia Lovibond, Will Keen and Joanna David, this elegant revival of her 1924 work will surely restore Sowerby to her rightful renown.

She takes the always pertinent themes of women, work and wealth and weaves them into a closely-observed character study of a middle-class family under immense strain. When Eustace Gaydon (Keen), a man of shady financial misdealings, learns that timid young Lois Relph (Lovibond) is to inherit a large sum, he marries her, making her stepmother to his young daughters. Skip forward a decade and Lois runs a successful dressmaking business, while Eustace’s schemes hover on the edge of ruin. But what, if anything, can Lois truly call her own?

Richard Eyre, former artistic director of the National Theatre, offers a perfectly-judged production that grips us from the very first lines. Keen gives a performance of impressive range as the on-edge Eustace, raging, blustering and self-justifying as his life crumbles.

Lovibond makes good work of the tightly-coiled Lois, ever more aware of the marital noose around her neck and that one misstep could hurtle her into financial ruin. There’s blazing support too from Eve Ponsonby as impassioned daughter Monica, who sees her chance of marrying recede ever further. A London transfer, please.

Until September 9, Minerva, Chichester Festival Theatre (cft.org.uk).