The Father, Whyndham's Theatre ****

This piece on dementia or a similar degenerative brain disease already was at a disadvantage in my mind as it had to follow a truly special production on the same subject at the Royal Court. Both plays address the issue in similar ways, even though Florian Zeller's play seems to be a more traditional and common form of the disease yet this doesn't detract from the impact, if anything creating a shorter gap between fiction and reality. Miriam Buether's set design is a tad alienating in the expense and emptiness of it yet none of it is a problem to an emotionally charged, intentionally confusing and upsetting play about the deterioration of Kenneth Craham's André from a strong and often unpleasant father to a distressed and alone patient. The play is intended to filter the world through André, even though at times it breaks his own rules by giving time without him. You don't who his daughter is and what the real truth is and achieves in a similar way to Nicola Wilson's play an insight into the mind of someone with dementia. Craham is extraordinary as the central character, being unsympathetic and yet compelling to watch. Claire Skinner does a fine job as his daughter who is tired and feels almost abused by her fathers increasing dependence on her whilst Nicholas Gleaves has the malice and decisiveness in Pierre that spices up the play, with the rest of the cast enhancing and adding depth to a highly emotional, clever and sophisticated play.