The Father
The Barn Theatre is proud to present a new production of The Father by Florian Zeller, opening on 16th October.
The Father premiered in Paris in 2012: according to The Times, it is “one of the best plays of the century”. It went on to win several awards internationally. A film adaptation, directed and co-written by Zeller, was released in 2020, gaining Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins).
The play takes us into the mind of André, an elderly man beginning to show the early symptoms of dementia. As the action unfolds, we see André living with different stages of the condition, and at the same time working through his relationship with his daughter Anne. Acute and complicated questions of care, autonomy, and love arise, as we witness two completely rounded human beings attempt to cope with the strenuous demands of their situation.
As director Laura Ilinca notes, André is onstage for almost the whole play, and his perspective dominates. Yet in spite of the ravages of dementia, he is much more than a victim of illness: he is shown as a tenacious individual, determined not only to hold onto his autonomy, but also to assert control over his environment. He can be brave, fearful, charming, cruel, practical, manipulative, and much more. For anyone who has cared for an elderly relative, he will be likely instantly recognisable.
Christopher Wallace, who plays André, acknowledges that this is a singularly meaty part, but draws attention to the large amount of humour interwoven into the role. He maintains that one of the main challenges in rehearsal has been to stop laughing. Audiences will be surprised and enlightened by the vein of dark comedy running through the script.
André's daughter Anne, played by Sarah Gennoe, is a similarly complex study. Torn by concern for her father and her own needs in life, she is faced with some extraordinarily difficult dilemmas. As we follow her part in the action, often thanklessly taken to task by her father, any romanticised conception of care is stripped away. It is a deeply moving and honest element of the play.
As it focuses on André's experience of dementia, Laura notes that the play raises some special technical challenges, especially how to render his loosened grasp of where he is located at any point in time. Is he in his own apartment? In Anne's home? In a residential care facility? Laura pays tribute to the skill of the set designers in creating a space onstage that can capture the fluid way in which André's sense of place comes to operate.
Dementia is a fact of life that many individuals and families fear and struggle with. In bringing The Father to the Barn, Laura and her team aim to throw a different light on a situation that can seem relatable in the rawest way. If the play looks frankly at vulnerability, cruelty, and abjection, it is also shot through with compassion, resilience, humour, and love. In spite of all the challenges faced by André and Anne, Laura hopes the audience will come away from the play with a sense of forgiveness for human frailty under pressure and “not be afraid”.
