The Mother

This is a superb concentrated piece of intelligent theatre, which is every bit as good as "The Father."

While the latter play was about alzheimers, this play is actually about being a "mother," what it is to value being a mother above anything else, and what happens when your beloved child grows up and leaves home.

It's so good I won't say anything else about the plot, bar saying it is definitely a companion piece to "The Father" in the way that it is structured, so do try to see both plays.

At it's centre is a terrific performance by Gina McKee, in which her singsong voice is used to as good effect as it ever has. The character she plays is whiny, selfish and despicable, but only in the way we are all whiny, selfish and despicable.

See this, and remember to get flowers on Mother's day lol!

4 stars.

They are entirely separate.

They are mirror plays in the sense that one describes a female parent protagonist, and the other a male parent antagonist, and critically, both plays get very deep into the heads of these protagonists, presenting us with a strongly subjective experience of events depicted, alongside an objective view of that "reality."

Just seen this and in a Caffe Nero next door.

Florian Zeller writes a very good play, but his knack is writing characters you care about, so much so that they are award worthy, I don't think anyone on this board will be surprised if Kenneth Cranham will win the Oliver, people might disagree with the decision, but they won't be surprised. Likewise Gina McGee will surely win the Oliver next year when this transfers to the West End. The whole run is now sold out, even though a few extra tickets went on sale after my last post and I was lucky to get one of these.

4 Stars.