The most acclaimed new play of the decade transfers to the West End for 8 weeks only
THE FATHER
Wyndham’s Theatre, London 30th September - 21st November 2015
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Guardian Observer Times Financial Times
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Mail on Sunday Evening Standard Sunday Times Daily Mail
By Florian Zeller in a new translation by Christopher Hampton
Directed by James Macdonald
Following successful runs at the Ustinov Studio in Bath and the Tricycle Theatre in London, Theatre Royal Bath Productions and the Tricycle Theatre will transfer Florian Zeller’s Moliere award-winning play, THE FATHER, starring Kenneth Cranham and Claire Skinner, to London’s Wyndham’s Theatre for a limited season, Wednesday 30th September – Saturday 21st November. In the two weeks prior to the transfer, the production will play a very limited run at Cambridge Arts Theatre, 15th – 26th September.
“As playful as it is painful... unforgettable acting” Dominic Maxwell, The Times
Now 80 years old, Andre was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter Anne and her husband Antoine. Or was he an engineer whose daughter Anne 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’s losing control.
“My play of the year.... Devastating drama” Georgina Brown, Mail on Sunday
Nominated for a Tony Award for Stephen Daldry’s An Inspector Calls on Broadway, Kenneth Cranham’s numerous stage credits also include The Cherry Orchard at the National Theatre, The Homecoming at the Almeida and West End productions of Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot, The Birthday Party and Gaslight. Screen credits range from the title role in Shine On Harvey Moon to Layer Cake, Maleficent, Hot Fuzz, Oliver! and Hellbound: Hellraiser II.
“Kenneth Cranham is quite simply shattering” Sarah Hemming, Financial Times
For her role in The Glass Menagerie at the Donmar Warehouse, Claire Skinner won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress and the Time Out Award for Best Performance Off West End, as well as earning an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Performance. Her theatre credits also include performances at the National Theatre, RSC, Almeida, Liverpool Everyman and the West End. Television credits include a BAFTA nominated performance in five series of ‘Outnumbered’, as well as ‘Silk’, ‘Homefront’, ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Lark Rise To Candleford’, while in film she has appeared in ‘When Did You Last See Your Father’, ‘Strings’ and ‘Sleepy Hollow’.
“Stunning… quietly devastating” Henry Hitchings, The Evening Standard
The cast also includes Rebecca Charles with additional casting to be announced.
Director James Macdonald has worked extensively off Broadway where he was recently the winner of the 2014 Obie Award for Best Director for Love and Information. He was Associate Director of the Royal Court from 1992 to 2007 and his credits include Cock, Drunk Enough to Say I Love You, the European and US tours of Sarah Kane’s 4.48 Psychosis, Exiles at the National Theatre, and Glengarry Glen Ross in the West End.
Florian Zeller is fast becoming one of France’s most well-known contemporary playwrights. His 2010 play The Mother was the winner of the Moliere Award, France’s highest theatrical honour. The Mother received critical acclaim at its UK premiere at the Ustinov Studio in June 2015, starring Gina McKee.
Translator Christopher Hampton’s own work includes The Philanthropist, Savages, Tales From Hollywood and Les Liaisons Dangereuse. He has translated plays by Ibsen, Molière, Chekhov and Yasmina Reza (including Art and Life x 3).
Designed by Miriam Buether; lighting designed by Guy Hoare; sound designed by Christopher Shutt.