The Father, in this English translation by Christopher Hampton, was commissioned by the Ustinov Studio, Theatre Royal, Bath and premiered in October 2014. The production transferred to the Tricycle Theatre, London and subsequently to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End. Florian Zeller's The Father was awarded the Moliere Award for Best Play and the Olivier and Tony Awards for Best Actor.
Florian Zeller is a French novelist and playwright. His work has been translated into a dozen languages, including English. He won the Prix Interalli茅 in 2004 for his novel "Fascination of Evil" ("La Fascination du Pire").
There was a lot of hoopla about the Anthony Hopkins movie, which I haven鈥檛 seen, but while at my local library, I saw this book on the shelf. It鈥檚 very short I thought. And read it in two short readings.
It鈥檚 very short I thought.
Very dark, very twisted, very confusing. Deliberately confusing. Who is who? What are we seeing? believing? The play turns us on our heads.
Dementia is not enjoyable. No, but the odds that we will get some form of dementia by the time we are 80 is very high. It affects our loved ones. Memories are gone, changed, lost. Confused.
Life is very short I thought. Best to enjoy it before this nightmare happens.
What is the benefit of witnessing the confusion of an ag茅d father afflicted by dementia? The answer has been portrayed for centuries in novels, poems, plays, memoirs and case studies. However, playwright Florian Zeller presents something different. He shifts our point of view from reader/witness to witness / participant. As a result, we are confused and lost. Herein lies the tragic farce, as the title promises.
To achieve this dramatic effect Zeller shifts times, varies locations, and twists character names. As a result of these, we鈥檙e lost. We鈥檝e been transported inside the demented mind of Andr茅, the main character, an ag茅d father. Foil to him is Anne, his daughter who vainly tries both to care for and reason with him. On the one hand, we feel Andr茅鈥檚 disoriented confusion and Anne鈥檚 vain attempts to assist him, and on the other we witness their mutual lack of perspective or understanding of each other. Andr茅 insists he鈥檚 coherent and Anne argues that he鈥檚 not. Her most frequent line is 鈥淒on鈥檛 you remember?鈥� And, his is, 鈥淲hat are you cooking up against me?鈥� To add another layer of confusion to this dilemma is her lack of knowledge about his dementia. She doesn鈥檛 understand his disabilities, so she fusses at him, as does he to her. Round and round they go, both insisting the other鈥檚 reality is misguided. Anger and frustration repeat in nearly every scene. However, one clever point of reference is Zeller鈥檚 repeated use of Andr茅鈥檚 wristwatch. He often claims, 鈥淚t鈥檚 lost鈥� or 鈥淪he stole it鈥� or 鈥淚s that your watch?鈥� On the surface we see him forgetting where he put his watch. On a more symbolic level, we realize that he鈥檚 lost track of time. His mind has been floating about within a period of years where his apartment transposes into Anne鈥檚 place 鈥� where her husband transposes into a stranger, or a new boyfriend 鈥� where yesterday鈥檚 events are wiped away and today is now five years ago. Throughout these illusions, Andr茅鈥檚 wristwatch is his anchor point. When it鈥檚 found and back on his arm, he鈥檚 no longer afloat, he鈥檚 intact and coherent. Despite these momentary anchor points, throughout the play, as these confusions and transpositions increase, Zeller takes us to moments of confusion that crack Andr茅鈥檚 feisty spirit.
The climax that resolves these tensions appears in the final scene. This is where we not only clearly see the actual present time in the actual location outside of Andr茅鈥檚 mind, but also we鈥檙e witness to the play鈥檚 subtitle: 鈥榯ragic farce.鈥� Here we can both laugh at his innocent, childish request for comfort, when he sobs and says, 鈥淚 want my mommy鈥� but we also can grieve at his loss of connection to Anne when he says, 鈥淲ho are you?鈥� And to his apartment when he says, 鈥淲here am I?鈥� They鈥檝e all tragically faded in the mind of a living man who says, 鈥淚 feel as if I鈥檓 losing all my leaves.鈥� Finally, we know that his past is dead when he humbly asks, 鈥淎nd, what is my name?鈥�
As an aside, the adaptation of 鈥淭he Father鈥� from script to screen reveals a key element that both Zeller and Christopher Hampton removed from the script. Andr茅鈥檚 more hostile side does not appear in the screen version. Early in the script Anne鈥檚 confronts her father about his violent threat to hit Isabella, his hired caregiver with a curtain rod. In the film, she only says that he threatened her, nothing about a curtain rod. Nor do we hear his three verbal abuses about his deceased wife in the movie that are in the script. These omissions soften Andr茅鈥檚 character thus making room for our purer sympathy especially during the final scene where, like him, we are moved by his vulnerability.
So, is there any benefit of being both witness to and participant in life鈥檚 ancient dilemma that occurs in old age? The answer could be the simple and ancient saw: 鈥榯he child is father to the man.鈥� In fact, Anne as child does serve as parent to her father. But, in this case, the relationship between Andr茅 and Anne, the benefit for us could be found in the profound effect of sympathy from Anne and its close relative, empathy from us. Despite Andr茅鈥檚 combative words, we experience his loss of memory and we grieve along with Anne whose compassion for her father cannot keep him afloat. He鈥檚 sinking out of control, as Shakespeare wrote into 鈥渟econd childishness and mere oblivion.鈥� Or as Florian Zeller wrote - he鈥檚 losing all his leaves in the wind 鈥� the cold and constant wind of age which forever blows our way.
Late last year, my father died of complications from Alzheimer's, and soon after, I found myself unintentionally watching a lot of films that were about the disease. None of them quite got the emotions and struggle of this disease quite right, often focusing on the joy of enjoying those final moments together, or assisting someone who knows what is happening to them. But when I saw Florian Zeller's film The Father, it was like I was seeing the experience with my dad on the screen.
Zeller's original play is just as powerful, as he puts us in the shoes of a person dealing with dementia, and how confusing and terrifying that experience must be. But Zeller also smartly decides to show us just how frustrating this disease is for those who have to live with the people dealing with dementia. There's anger and confusion and an incredible amount of patience that these people have to put up with, and I'm glad Zeller didn't shy away from showing the difficulties for both sides of the equation. As someone who has been through an experience so similar to this, the scene where Andres, the man with dementia, is asked if he's doing this on purpose, if this is all just an unbelievable act, is one of the most honest scenes I saw in a movie last year.
But I'm truly impressed that Zeller is able to convey everything that the film does, but on the stage. I'd love to see how the stage transforms and evolves in a way that puts the audience in the mindset of someone with dementia, and to see this live, with the stage changing and the cast members changing must be an incredible experience. A truly powerful piece of work that really helped me deal with this disease after the death of my father.
This play is based on the very clever idea of dramatising the Alzheimer's of elderly protagonist Andre by making the audience as lost as he is. The most exciting moment in the script is the start of the second scene, when we first realise this. His daughter Anne, whom we have just watched in the opening scene, is played by a different actor. What is really going on? We simply can't be sure, and we are simultaneously intrigued and disturbed.
As the story progresses, confusions about the sort of facts we take for granted in our everyday lives abound, from the banal (they are having chicken for dinner / what chicken are you talking about, Dad?) to the profound (his daughter is married / his daughter has been divorced for years). The random, discombobulating movement of furniture on the set is a simple cruelty that is especially clever at catching Andre's loss of self, though the most affecting moment of the play is a comically unsuccessful bluff of recognition of his son-in-law, Antoine. (Andre, Anne, Antoine - even the names conspire to confuse.)
This could all amount to tragicomedy at its finest yet, despite his brilliant conceit, the playwright forgot something crucial. Heart. The play has a coldness to it, a clipped tonal efficiency in its dialogue (think David Mamet or Harold Pinter) that leaves out the truth that, as well as finding people with Alzheimer's frustrating, carers also... love them. So when, in the penultimate scene, Andre's daughter bids a tearful goodbye, there has not been enough of a dilemma for her up to that point for us to believe her and when, in the final scene, Andre wails for comfort, the pathos sought feels unearned.
Now, this was something beautiful. I've read two more of Florian's plays: THE TRUTH and THE LIE. Both were just ok. But this is really mature work. This is really beautifully written and now I'm really looking forward to its screen adaptation and Anthony Hopkins' performance.
[Slight spoilers but only if you haven't seen the trailer and absolutely knows nothing about the movie or the play]
Nominated for Oscars 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay Winner, BAFTA 2021 Best Adapted Screenplay
Very successful in generating the continual sense of confusion that must be felt by a dementia sufferer with clever juxtaposition of timelines and repetition; even on paper, this increasing sense of bewilderment and disorientation escalates well to the inevitable conflict that ensues. (In the movie, I'm sure that using different actors to play the same role will accentuate the self-doubt even more.) Almost from page one, I was wondering how it would end and I'm rather disappointed with the ending, which is why I didn't end up giving it 5 stars.
With the theatrical release continually delayed due to the pandemic, I've been waiting for this movie to be released for well over a year! The screenplay is the next best thing!
From BBC radio 3 - Drama on 3: Kenneth Cranham's moving portrayal of a man suffering from dementia in Florian Zeller's award-winning stage play, translated by Christopher Hampton.
This darkly funny drama tells the story of 80-year-old Andr茅's declining mental powers and the efforts of his daughter Anne (Claire Skinner) to balance caring for him with the demands of her own life.
A Theatre Royal Bath/Ustinov Studio/Tricyle Theatre production directed by James Macdonald.
Sound Design ..... Christopher Shutt
Winner of the 2014 Moli猫re award for France's best play, The Father by Florian Zeller received five star reviews across the board in the UK.
It was the most depressing thing I ever read, reminding me of my late father-in-law that had dementia before he died. The movie was just as depressing, although Anthony Hopkins is a very gifted actor, I would rather see him in roles like Dr. Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs" or "Audrey Rose."
I have only read the play but not seen it. I can imagine the emotional punch a good production would give the audience. This play will be done all across the country and rightly so.
Wow! What a play! The way the reader is made to feel like the one with dementia is so clever and so jarring! What a fantastic way to draw our attention to such an awful disease
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Zeller鈥檚 play, originally produced in 2012, is an unsentimental and emotionally intense look at an elderly man sliding deeper into dementia. As his dementia intensifies, Andr茅 has become too unbearable for caretakers and now lives with his daughter Anne. With Andr茅 experiencing an increasing mental loss, so does he experience a resonating physical loss as well as his environment slowly erodes around him. Unflinching in its honesty and tragic humor, 鈥淭he Father鈥� is a brilliant contemporary narrative.
As someone with grandparents who have passed away/are currently suffering with dementia, I can't recommend this highly enough. Especially if you know a loved one with the illness, or are concerned about what old age may bring. It's a fascinating and moving portrayal of how horrific the experience must be, however differently it is experienced for each person. Also, it is a realistic exploration of how frustrating it can be for the families and carers of those suffering. I look forward to reading more of Zeller's illuminating works, thanks for raising awareness through art!
Devastating. In a world with so much focus on aging and dementia, this play, intriguingly self-named a 鈥渇arce鈥�, shows an all too real side of aging for so many people.
Imagine you have memory issues. What would the world look like from your perspective? That鈥檚 what Zeller crafts in this heartbreaking play.
In each scene, the audience is left questioning what they just saw, giving us a first person glance at what it might feel like to suffer from this disease of the mind.
A hauntingly beautiful and devastatingly sad play.
Read this as part of my Oscar challenge since it was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. The movie stayed almost completely true to the script with minor tweaks. Really enjoyed reading through it to enjoy the creativity of the way this sad story was told.