"Jason Thorpe (The Witcher, The Banishing) is instantly lovable as Winston Smith, who arrives unannounced at his daughter Joy's flat. He is a chaotic, grey-haired dad, full of quick wit and risky jokes (the audience laughs constantly). Joy played by writer Farino herself (Anatomy of a Scandal, Masters of the Air) is perturbed by her father's appearance. She's a soft-spoken, formidable presence, wise to his erratic nature but without the capacity to resist him."
"The drama is propelled by a scheme of Winston's. He's converted a school bus into a camper van (affectionally named Buster) and convinces Joy to accompany him on a search for their lost Irish family in County Mayo. For him, this is a father-daughter bonding exercise; for her, it's another submission to an unhinged parent. This is seemingly familiar theatrical groundwork: two characters cast to the road, at odds with each other, in need of the catharsis that travel might bring."
"Fatherland is elevated by Thorpe's pitch-perfect portrayal of a desperate man with a cuddly shell. He moves from slapstick comedy to wailing tragedy, blending blustery dad with calculated manipulator. The contradictions of his character, laid bare by the calibre of his performance, sustain the play throughout. Farino's script is super-sensitive to awkwardnesses between an ageing father and a young-adult daughter."
A chaotic, grey-haired father named Winston Smith unexpectedly arrives at his daughter Joy's flat, prompting a tense, comic-filled reunion. Winston has converted a school bus named Buster into a camper and persuades Joy to join a trip to County Mayo to search for a lost Irish family. The journey frames a father-daughter drama where Winston alternates between slapstick and tragic manipulation, and Joy is wary, soft-spoken but unable to resist him. Jason Thorpe's performance captures the contradictions of Winston, while Farino's script sensitively navigates awkwardnesses of ageing parent and young-adult child onstage.
Read at www.london-unattached.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]