Presented by Next Stage Theatre Company
Wednesday 25th - Satruday 28th January 7:30pm
Matinee Saturday 28th January 2:00pm
Andre knows that he is a powerful man, a man of authority, and he will find some way to assert it. After all, he still has all his faculties…. Doesn’t he?
In a darkly humorous and deeply poignant translation by Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller’s The Father is a tragi-comic mystery, a sobering and realistic family story, and an unsentimental, emotionally intense look at the world through the eyes of a man experiencing dementia, a dramatic illustration of the physical losses which occur along with the mental ones.
Funny and poignant, in equal measure, no one watching this production can fail to be moved. Directed in-the-round by Next Stage’s Artistic Director - Ann Ellison - the role of the Father sees John Matthews making a welcome return to the stage.
Opening night reviews:
Review 1:
Review by Rebecca Beard
It feels like far too long since I was last at The Mission Theatre, so the email inviting me to watch Next Stage's production of The Father was very welcome. And what a play it is.
The evocative poster design, reminiscent of Dali's The Disintegration of the Persistence of Memory, set the tone for a play which didn't shirk from exploring the theme of dementia, the terror and confusion it can bring to those who have it, and the difficult decisions for the family left in its wake. As people live longer, the spectre of mental decline haunts our collective consciousness, so this is very much a play for our time.
The excellent casting of the play really brought out the relationships, particularly those of Andre, his daughter Anne, and her new partner Pierre. Implicit throughout was the mystery of the other daughter Elise, and the director was careful to preserve this ambiguity.
I loved the attention to detail of every aspect of this production; the sympathetic palette of the set and costume, the subtle use of lighting to mark every scene, the use of the ticking sound effect to emphasise the metaphor of the watch and our perception of time, the gradual diminishing of the set as a further metaphor for decline; every aspect had a cumulative effect to build towards the denouement. As we watched, we were immersed in Andre's sense of unreality, and this was particularly emphasised by the additional characters of Laura, Man and Woman. It was a beautiful ensemble performance and not a single member of the cast wasted a second of their time on the stage.
I am always loath to single out any particular performance, but a special mention must go to John Matthews for driving the play with his portrayal of Andre. He was charming, which made his frustration and confusion all the more sorrowful as he grasped vainly for the remaining scraps of memory. His final fragmentation as his shadows closed in and he called for Mummy was harrowing to watch; the final and inevitable regression to childhood.
As Shakespeare's Jaques so eloquently put it;
Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.
Thank you for a wonderful evening which will stay with me for a long time.
Review 2:
by Harry Mottram
Some plays leave you uplifted, amused and full of joy while others send you home whistling the finale’s tune. The Father at the Mission Theatre makes you doubt your own sanity with its theme of mental decline as it tells the story of the protagonist André’s descent into the twilight zone of dementia.
Played in the round with a slowly reducing set of beige furniture André (John Matthews) is as Shakespeare put it, in the seventh age of life. The ‘second childishness and mere oblivion,
sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.’ A condition that is frightening for the afflicted and distressing for those who care for him.
Set in a modern Parisian flat Florian Zeller’s 2014 drama The Father (Le Pere) has been twice filmed (including one with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman). It uses that tried and trusted technique of the unreliable narrator. Who do we believe? For André is increasingly confused as he tries to make sense of his world. Is he in his own apartment or is he in a home – and who are these people who insist he takes his medication? His daughter, a nurse, a carer or complete strangers? The result is to leave the audience as muddled as André is as he struggles to make sense of everything. Whether it’s where his watch is, or if he should get dressed, or even what he once did for a living.
John Matthews’s performance as André is both convincing and disturbing in director Ann Ellison’s Next Stage production of Zeller’s lucid drama as he transforms from slightly forgetful head of the household having a senior moment to a lost soul crying for his mother.
There is excellent support from Lydia Cook as his daughter Anne who keeps the action grounded as she attempts to make André understand what is happening with a polished naturalistic performance. While Tiana James as André’s social worker come carer maintained an understated and sympathetic persona as the professional dealing with someone whose world is darkening.
And André’s confusion wasn’t helped as he muddled his carer with ‘The Woman’ (a brilliant Hayley Fitton-Cook) and his son-in-law Pierre (Callum Marshall) with ‘The Man’ (Joshua Tenn) suggesting those in his life increasingly became interchangeable as names and roles eluded him. These supporting roles were of exceptional quality – as to downplay everyday people takes a deal of skill and a measure of subtlety.
When Pierre raises his hand to strike André due to his increasing frustration with the old man, we recognise that moment when understanding gives way to ‘I’ve had enough of this’ pitilessness. It also highlighted the vital work of professional carers in society as portrayed by Tiana and Hayley who must understand and never judge their charges.
Life is often a series of circles, for the British premier of the French play was at the nearby Ustinov Studio in Bath back in 2014 when Kenneth Cranham took the lead. He continued in the role when Zeller’s drama ran in the West End at the Wyndham the following year. And now there’s a chance to see the Molière awarded play back in the spa city with a cast on top form.
