IT takes a lot of courage to take on a story that adapted as a film won a Best Actor Oscar for Anthony Hopkins and nominations for Best Film and Best Supporting Actress for Olivia Colman.

Plus the actor (Bernard Moule) who took on the role in Harlow Theatre Company’s version of The Father had retired from the stage in 2018. We know, because we interviewed him here.

So in many ways, Bernard had everything to lose. He is a much cherished and admired actor.

He still is. Bernard’s performance was a tour de force, touching the heart and soul of every audience member.

There is a line at the end where he calls for his mummy. If you have ever cared for a mother in her eighties who calls for a mother who had died thirty years previously, then you may know.

The Father centres on the slow mental disintegration of a father and the consequences for those around him.

The key to the script was repetition. From the opening conversation saying “Nothing happened” to the endless search for a watch.

Bernard Moule may have just saved his best performance for his comeback and it is clear that his timing is still so perfect this late in his career.

There has to be praise for director Melissa Richards. There is a sparseness and simplicity to the set but it is a vital factor in the success of this play.

From the opening changes from day to night, the use of light and music both forwards and backwards to the literal direction of the actors.

In many ways, Bernard was like King Lear in his dressing gown. But he did this with subtlety, with tragic grace and his faltering was both internalised and also for all to see.

He also delivered those “unfiltered lines” so well. “Inane cackling” came to mind.

Bernard was so ably assisted by the supporting cast. Vanessa Wood as Anne was a perfect foil as his struggling daughter. Again, no pressure here, playing a role which Olivia Colman was given a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Oscars. Vanessa worked around Bernard. You felt her distress and pain as they moved to the inevitable decision.

There is also Jo Gladstone, Stuart Coombe and Georgia Bryson who were excellent tin their varied roles.

We hope that Jo doesn’t think “dependable” is damning with faint praise. You just know that this role is in safe hands if it is played by Jo.

Georgia Bryson gave off such empathy as the care assistant Laura and was a joy to watch on the stage. Georgia acts with her eyes.

Stuart Coombe is starting to build up quite a CV in menacing! But the scene in which he was indeed menacing was very impactful.

Finally, Steve Hannam is always a class apart and his character oozes resentment and menace. Steve never wastes a movement and never wastes a line.

This was a ninety minutes journey into the human tragedy of dementia. This reviewer can tell you when (back in 2007) you have been called by the emergency services that your 77-year-old mother is wandering in the pouring rain at 6am in Great Brays, then this was a tough watch but this is his job.

But we highly recommend you going down to Victoria Hall Theatre to see The Father.

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/essex/the-victoria-hall-theatre-old-harlow/the-father/e-lbpvkr

Remember there is help.

A leaflet from the Harlow Dementia Friendly Community is attached to the programme.

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