Oh I do love a bit of Strindberg and this was an especially memorable production of one of Strindberg’s best plays. Not familiar with the play? – Wikipedia can help – click here.
A Saturday evening with Bobbie at the National.
I rated this one “very good indeed” in my log.
We saw a preview of this one. The press night is listed some 10 days after our preview, so we must have seen one of the first previews.
A fine cast – set out in Theatricalia.com if you click here. Alun Armstrong as The Captain. The late lamented Susan Fleetwood as Laura.
At the time of writing, strangely, I have recently seen Alun Armstrong again, I think for the first time in those 30 years, in The Cane at the Royal Court:
But returning to the Father I remember the production and Armstrong’s performance clearly – both really were memorably good.
Below is Michael Billington’s Guardian review:
Billington on The Father Fri, Oct 28, 1988 – 35 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Below is Michael Ratcliffe’s Observer review:
Michael ratcliffe on The Father Sun, Nov 6, 1988 – 43 · The Observer (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com