Katherine Githa Sowerby (6 October 1876 – 30 June 1970), also known under her

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

K. G. Sowerby, was an English playwright, children's writer, and member of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

. A feminist, she was well-known during the early twentieth century for her 1912 hit play ''

Rutherford & Son ''Rutherford and Son'' is a play by Githa Sowerby (1876–1970), written in 1912. It premiered in London in the same year with four matinee performances at the Royal Court followed by a run of 133 performances at the Vaudeville Theatre. The ...

'', but lapsed into obscurity in later decades.Barbara Hodgson
"Author Is Brought Back to Life"
''The Journal'', 17 September 2009. ''Rutherford & Son'' was first revived in 1980, and since then there have been several productions, including one at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

in 1994 and, most recently, by

Sheffield Theatres Sheffield Theatres is a theatre complex in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It comprises three theatres: the Crucible, the Lyceum and the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse. These theatres make up the largest regional theatre complex outside the ...

. A biography of Sowerby by Pat Riley, ''Looking for Githa'', appeared in 2009, with a revised edition in 2019. In addition to several plays, Sowerby wrote books of poetry and short stories for children, illustrated by her sister

Millicent Sowerby Amy Millicent Sowerby (1878–1967) was an English painter and illustrator, known for her illustrations of classic children's stories such as ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and ''A Child's Garden of Verses'', her postcards featuring child ...

. Her papers and memorabilia are in the collections at the Tyne and Wear Archives.

Life and career

Sowerby was born in 1876 in

Gateshead, England Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, ...

, into the Sowerbys, a

glass-making Glass production involves two main methods – the float glass process that produces sheet glass, and glassblowing that produces bottles and other containers. It has been done in a variety of ways during the history of glass. Glass container ...

family. Her father, John G. Sowerby, was an artist and grandson of naturalist

James Sowerby James Sowerby (21 March 1757 – 25 October 1822) was an English naturalist, illustrator and mineralogist. Contributions to published works, such as ''A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland'' or ''English Botany'', include his detailed and app ...

, and her mother was Amy Margaret Sowerby (''née'' Hewison). Sowerby married John Kendall, and they had one daughter, Joan (1918-2013)Riley, ''Looking for Githa'', Revised edition 2019 ''Rutherford & Son'' was a "sensation"Mark Brown
"Githa Sowerby, the forgotten playwright, returns to the stage"
''Guardian'', 14 August 2009 and a "massive success"BBC
"Tyneside honours forgotten writer"
(26 August 2009). in its 1912 London debut, running for 133 performances in London and 63 performances in New York. Literary critic Barrett Harper Clark, writing in 1915, declared it "among the most powerful works of the younger generation". It was also produced in Canada and Australia, and translated into numerous other languages, including German, French, Italian, Russian, and Bohemian. Originally produced under the pen name "G. K. Sowerby", it was only later revealed that the author of the hit play was a woman; Sowerby then achieved instant celebrity. Sowerby's writing was compared to

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's at that point, while known only by the gender-neutral initials "G. K."Rose Drew
"Patricia Riley on Playwright Githa Sowerby"
, ''One&Other: York'', 11 December 2011.

Bibliography

Plays

* '' Rutherford and Son'' (1912, realist drama) * ''Before Breakfast'' (1912) * ''Jinny'' (1914) * ''A Man and Some Women'' (1914) * ''Sheila'' (1917) * '' The Stepmother'' (1924) * ''Direct Action'' (1937–78) (Sowerby's last play)

Children's books

* ''The Wise Book'' (1906) * ''The Bumbletoes'' (1907) * ''Childhood'' (1907) * ''The Merry Book'' (1908) * ''Yesterday's Children'' (1908) * ''The Happy Book'' (1909) * ''Grimm's Fairy Tales (retold)'' (1909) * ''Little Plays for Little People'' (1910) * ''Little Songs for Little People'' (1910) * ''My Birthday'' (1911) * ''Poems of Childhood'' (1912) * ''Little Plays for School and Home'' (1912) * ''The Pretty Book'' (1914) * ''Cinderella'' (1915) * ''The Gay Book'' (1915) * ''The Dainty Book'' (1915) * ''The Bright Book'' (1915) * ''The Bonny Book'' (1918) * ''The Glad Book'' (1921)

Notes

External links

Woman's Hour
on

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...