Wellington's Circa Theatre Presents 'The Father'

Circa Theatre Presents 'The Father'

By Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton

Director: Ross Jolly

Proudly sponsored by Christopher Finlayson

A touching, funny, deeply unsettling mystery.

The most acclaimed new play of the decade, 'The Father' is a searingly honest, profoundly moving, darkly comic masterpiece.

What would happen if you lost your bearings, questioned your identity… Or just simply lost your mind? After all, you’re getting forgetful, can't remember names, or where you put your car keys. What did you do last Friday? My God, is this it... Is it happening to me? Is this IT?

Just don't mention the D WORD...

This is the landscape that hot new French writer Florian Zeller examines in his astonishing, widely celebrated play The Father...

With eight major reviewers each awarding it a coveted five star rating, The Father is indeed the most acclaimed new play of the decade.

André was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter and her husband Antoine. Or was he an engineer whose daughter now lives in London with her new lover, Pierre?

The thing is, he is still wearing his pyjamas and he can’t find his watch. He is starting to wonder if he is losing control.

Sharp and surprising, the Father takes us on a journey into a mind troubled by shifting boundaries and uncertain realities. What is it like to ”lose it” and how does it affect your family?

Director Ross Jolly says: “The play is a bizarre, psychological thriller where we are constantly challenged to decide whose reality prevails… In the landscape of fake news and distorted, alternative facts what is the real "reality" anyway? Maybe it's just a different point of view. Am I going a bit mad, or is it you?”

Intriguing, unsettling and laced with deft black comedy, 'The Father' is a sharp and surprising, quietly devastating masterpiece.“A play that constantly confounds expectations and works almost like a thriller, with a sinister Pinteresque edge.”
– The Guardian

'The Father' stars Jeffrey Thomas, Danielle Mason, Gavin Rutherford, Bronwyn Turei, Harriet Prebble and Simon Leary

THE BIOS:

Florian Zeller is a French novelist and playwright. His work has been translated into many languages. He won the prestigious Prix Interallié in 2004 for his novel La Fascination du Pire ("Fascination of Evil") and several Moliere Awards for his plays. He is, according to The Guardian, "the most exciting new theatre writer of our time". With three new plays the Father, the Mother and the Truth on in the West End recently who could argue.

Christopher Hampton is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play based on the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses and the film version Dangerous Liaisons (1988) and also more recently for writing the nominated screenplay for the film adaptation of Ian McEwan's Atonement.

Ross Jolly is a founding member of Circa Theatre, Circa councillor, actor, role player, speech coach and freelance theatre director, Ross has directed around 80 productions for Circa including: Master Class, Moonlight, F.I.L.T.H., Travels with my Aunt, Social Climbers, Taking Sides (Best Circa Production 1997), Heretic (1998 NZ International Festival of the Arts), The Cripple of Inishmaan, How I Learned to Drive, Waiting for Godot, Ross won Director of the Year at the Chapman Tripp Theatre Awards 1999. Most recent credits include Clybourne Park (2012) Tribes and No Naughty Bits (20013) Other Desert Cities and the Pitman Painters (2014) A Servant to Two Masters and The Hound of the Baskervilles (2015) Stage Kiss and Last Legs, 2016 Last Legs (return and Dunedin) Weed and The Father (2017).

Circa One, 1 Taranaki Street, Wellington

14 Oct – 11 Nov, Tues – Thurs 6.30pm / Fri – Sat 8pm / Sun 4pm

TICKETS: $25 – $52

$30 PREVIEW 13 Oct & 15 Oct

$38 FRIENDS OF CIRCA DEAL: 14-29 Oct

BOOKINGS: 04 801 7992 / www.circa.co.nz / 1 Taranaki St, Wellington

Links: Circa Theatre for more info and bookings

ENDS

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