(Dominic Cavendish’s article appeared in the Telegraph, 10/6.)
“Did you know my husband?” my grandmother used to ask, as dementia began to take hold of her late in a long life – a whole crucial chapter of shared experience disappearing out of reach. The question implied another awful one that eventually couldn’t be avoided: “Who are you?”
The Father, a super-smart, finally heart-breaking play by the Frenchman Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton – now transferring to the West End after its Bath premiere last year – will speak to anyone who has watched a relative disappear off into clouds of unknowingness, and to anyone who dreads the terrifying loss of identity caused by cruel diseases such as Alzheimer’s. In an age that can prolong our lives without ring-fencing our mental faculties, that’s almost everyone.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/the-father–wyndham-theatre–review—/
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