‘The Father’ depicts the relationship between a father with dementia and his daughter

Florian Zeller’s The Father depicts the relationship between a father with dementia and his daughter, who attempts to balance the demands of her own life with the need to care for her father.

The play balances humour and pathos in its treatment of themes that almost everyone can relate to, either directly or in an imagined future, and leaves the audience in thoughtful reflection on universal experiences of loss and ageing.

South London Theatre will stage its production of the play at the Old Fire Station on Norwood High Street from 5-9 February.

As with many of Zeller’s works, the play challenges both cast and audience in its refusal to distinguish definitively between reality and our variously outlandish perceptions of it. Director Jessica Osorio, who has herself worked in clinical research on dementia, offers an interpretation that aims to entertain whilst also affording us raw insight into the experience of someone with dementia.

The production has been informed by input and advice from researchers specialising in dementia at King’s College London. The performance on Wednesday 6 February will be followed by a panel discussion involving a number of researchers from King’s, including Rob Stewart, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology & Clinical Informatics at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience and Dr Sally Marlow, Engagement and Impact Fellow for the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre.

The panel will discuss the sensitive and complex issues raised by the play and invite questions from the audience.

The Father.
South London Theatre, The Old Fire Station, 2A Norwood High Street, SE27 9NS.
Tuesday, February 5-Saturday, February 9 at 8pm. Wednesday, February 6 – Q&A 9.45pm-10.30pm.