Photos: THE FATHER Now Playing At Wilbury Theatre Group

Get a first look at the Wilbury Theatre Group production of The Father: A Tragic Farce by Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton. Directed by Wilbury Group Artistic Director Josh Short, the production features Jeff Ararat, Jeanine Kane, Tanya Anderson Martin, Gabrielle McCauley, Martin Novogrodski and Richard Donelly as André and runs January 23 - February 9, 2025.

Now 80 years old, André was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter, Anne, and her husband, Antoine. Or was André an engineer, whose daughter Anne lives in London with her new lover, Pierre? The thing is, he is still wearing his pajamas, and he can’t find his watch. He is starting to wonder if he’s losing control. Winner of the Molière award for France’s best play, The Father – brilliantly told with humor and empathy – treats audiences to a heart-wrenching glimpse into despair from the loss of self.

The Father debuted as a French-language play in 2012 and has been staged in over 45 countries.  It was adapted for film in 2020 and starred Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman. The Los Angeles Times calls The Father, “Adventurous in its format…puts the audience in the position of the memory-impaired. Logic fails, time bends, eyes play tricks…This is the clever framing of The Father: It brings the viewer inside André’s mind as it unravels.”

“We are so fortunate to have the great Richard Donelly and this amazing cast come together to bring this touching and complex story to our audiences,” said Wilbury Theatre Group’s Artistic Director, Josh Short. “When Richard brought it to me I was struck by how it so beautifully brings to the stage this universal experience.  This is the most poignant play about the changing relationships between children and their parents as they grow older, and what we hold onto the tightest, once everything else starts to fade away. We can’t wait to share it with you.”

Photo credit: Erin X. Smithers

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