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The Father, by French playwright Florian Zeller, won the Moliere Award for Best Play in 2014. It has been translated by Christopher Hampton.
Florian Zeller’s The Father is a sobering and realistic family story, and an unsentimental, emotionally intense look at the world through the eyes of a man experiencing dementia. The play illustrates the man’s gradual loss into confusion. This is made harder for his daughter, and us, as we see the man’s charm, humour, pride and anger are still there. He is confused but retains many aspects of his character and continues to be
witty and amusing and, maybe, a tap dancer! Watching events through the man’s perspective gives some insight, possibly, into the reality that he is experiencing. The play is challenging and rewarding. And if we are willing to go along with the man’s reality, then he is not sad but courageous.
This is a thought-provoking play for all of us. Many of the cast have experience of knowing someone with dementia, as do I. We have shared experiences and points of view throughout. I hope you will want to stay at the end of the performance and continue the sharing, perhaps with people you don’t know.
I have directed at Howick Little Theatre, Because of Beth and Our Man in Havana, and the very successful Things I Know to be True at Ellerslie. As an ‘actor’, I have played many parts, from being an ‘extra’ in a cult film as a very young ‘swinging’ Londoner, to (now greying) Grandmother (The Witches), strong women struggling with cancer (Birthrights and Last Legs) and the punk Abbess Aemilia (The Comedy of Errors) – in a red wig! I prefer drama, but drama only works alongside comedy – so please feel free to laugh out loud in this production. I earned my living by being a university senior lecturer in philosophy and mathematics for more years than I will mention. (I’m still available for tutoring NCEA and IGCSE Maths.)
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