The Father at The Fugard Theatre

Catch an emotionally poignant play with a powerhouse cast

The mentally-taxing day-to-day life of someone suffering from insanity comes to the fore in a hard-hitting show titled The Father at The Fugard Theatre. This Tony and Olivier Award-winning hit written by Florian Zeller will premier in South Africa for three-and-a-half weeks only, from Tuesday, 8 November to Saturday, 3 December 2016.

The Father is an amusing, gloomy and riveting production that delves into the confused mind of André as he fights the dementia that plagues his daily life. From confusing faces and conflicting memories that lead to a daily struggle for understanding, this twisting and turning story is relatable to, and heart-felt by, the audience.

Directed by Greg Karvellas (Clybourne Park; Bad Jews; CHAMP), the play pulls together an all-South African cast headed by acting legend Marius Weyers (who played the bumbling scientist in The Gods Must Be Crazy, and more recently appeared in Blood Diamond alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, as well as performing in theatre productions such as Othello, The Rainmaker and Hamlet). Weyers plays the lead role of André.

The captivating cast also includes Anthea Thompson (Shirley Valentine; Madam and Eve) as Anne, Emily Child (The Pervert Laura; The Emissary; A Certain Lady) as a woman, Brent Palmer (A Steady Rain; The Kingmakers; Bench) as Pierre, Nicholas Pauling (Clybourne Park; A Steady Rain; Epstein) as a man, and Amy Louise Wilson (The Book of Negroes; Scrape; The Year of the Bicycle) as Laura.

“Dementia is a disease that many can relate to,” says Executive Director of The Fugard Theatre, Daniel Galloway. “We may have experiences of living through it with loved ones, or faced the real and terrifying thought that this degenerative disease of the brain is not selective of circumstance and can affect any of us. We have no control over it, no matter who we are. The Father is a very poignant exploration of the frailty of the human mind.”

The play has scooped various international awards in the past, such as a 2015 Tony Award, top British and French Olivier and Moliere awards and a substantial amount of five star reviews from international critics.

TICKETS FOR THE 2016 THE FATHER PRODUCTION AT THE FUGARD THEATRE

Tickets cost between R130p/p and R160p/p, and can be booked online via Computicket.com. Performances are from Tuesdays to Saturdays at 8pm, with an additional 4pm show on Saturday afternoons. The show is one hour and forty minutes long including a twenty minute interval, and doors open 20 minutes prior to the show.

For more information, email info@thefugard.com or phone their box office at +27 (0)21 461 4554.

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Interested in other theatre events in Cape Town? You might like District Six – Kanala, The Fugard’s other theatre show.

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