A Lie of the Mind

Richmond Shakespeare’s “The Father” dives headfirst into the mind of a man with dementia.

Andrew is a respected engineer. Andrew is a tap dancer.

Andrew lives alone. Andrew lives with his daughter in her apartment. Andrew’s daughter lives with him in his apartment.

Which of these statements are true? You’ll have to see Florian Zeller’s play “The Father” and decide for yourself.

“It’s about a man who is encountering progressive dementia,” explains director Jan Powell of the Richmond Shakespeare production opening this week at Virginia Rep’s Theatre Gym. “The brilliance of the play is that it tells us the story through his perception, so the audience experiences what he experiences.”

Taking place inside of Andrew’s apartment, the play is comprised of a series of non-linear scenes where its octogenarian protagonist isn’t entirely sure what’s going on around him. At various points, Andrew is convinced that his daughter is his caretaker, or vice versa. He can’t ever seem to find his watch, and he’s upset to learn that his daughter knows about his secret hiding spot.

Piece by piece, the furnishings of his home disappear.

“This is symbolic of what’s happening with him,” explains Alan Sader, who stars as Andrew. “He’s losing pieces of himself. Periodically losing words, losing thoughts, losing recognition. In one moment, he’s talking to a daughter; in the next moment he doesn’t know who she is.”

Alan Sader and John Moon in “The Father.”

Originally written for the stage, the play was adapted by Zeller into a 2020 film of the same name starring Anthony Hopkins; Zeller and his co-author Christopher Hampton won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and Hopkins won for Best Actor.

“This play is based on [Zeller’s] experience with his father,” says Sader, noting the strain that looking after a loved one can take. “Caretakers, especially if they’re a spouse, frequently die before the people that they’re caring for because of the stress that they’re going through.”

Sader says the play’s content will have a ring of recognition for many theatergoers.

“A high majority of people will be affected by somebody with some form of dementia in their lifetime,” he explains.

A lion of the local theater who is best known as the longtime public face of Christian Children’s Fund (now ChildFund International), Sader says memorizing this role’s cyclical dialogue has been harder than tackling King Lear.

Powell, who has directed most of Shakespeare’s canon and holds a doctorate in theater arts, says the role is also the toughest memorization challenge she’s encountered.

“It’s an Olympian feat to memorize this show,” Powell says. “The language is circular. Things get repeated, but in different ways, and it’s not chronological.”

The show is complicated enough that the cast and crew have created a graph to keep track of which person is playing which role at any given time and who Andrew thinks that person is.

“Alan is, of course, amazing,” says Powell of her star. “It’s such a privilege to work with someone of his experience and ability. He’s got tremendous insight into the character of Andrew.”

For Sader, the part is a bucket list item that came about after a cancer diagnosis in 2023 led him to seek out roles he had always wanted to perform. Last year, Sader performed in a a weekend of staged readings called “A Few More for the Road” with some of his favorite local actors. “The Father” came about after Sader proposed the play to Richmond Shakespeare’s producing artistic director James Ricks.

Grey Garrett, Sader’s frequent scene partner, calls him “a local legend.”

Grey Garrett, who plays opposite Sader in most of the show’s scenes as Andrew’s daughter Anne, is thrilled to act alongside her costar.

“We’re so lucky to have Alan Sader, who is 84 years old, onstage playing this role,” she says. “He is a local legend and seeing him do this piece is worth the price of any admission ticket.”

Powell calls the script a “masterpiece.”

“The play just grabs your heart,” she says. “There are some very sad moments, some heartbreaking moments, and then moments that are very funny and very smart.”

Like Sader, Powell stresses the universality of the play’s content.

“I haven’t found anyone who can’t identify with this situation in one way or another. No matter what their age or their family situation, pretty much everyone has experiences with a parent who is starting to lose their acuity,” Powell says. “Those of us around them do a disservice when we’re insisting that our reality has to be theirs.”

Richmond Shakespeare’s “The Father” plays Jan. 30-Feb. 16 at Virginia Rep’s Theatre Gym, 114 W. Broad St., 23220. For more information, visit richmondshakespeare.org or call (804) 340-0115.

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