"The Son" by Florian Zeller, translated by Christopher Hampton
Nottingham Lace Market Theatre

It's not a play that I know much about, apart from it's part of a trilogy of plays by Zeller, "The Father", "The Mother" and "The Son", all three focus on a family from different viewpoints. "The Son" focuses on teenage depression and mental health.

We get the feeling that something is not quite right from the first moment we see the teenage son, Nicolas, in a room continually biting his nails. His mother, Anne, turns up at the home her ex-husband, Pierre, shares with his new lover, Sofia, and their baby son. Anne explains that Nicolas is unwell, has played truant from school for three months and that she can no longer cope. Their decision for the boy to live with his father – only makes the situation worse. Nicolas lies, indulges in self-mutilation, turns suicidal and even when he gets psychiatric help, does not help as a solution to this family issue.

Louis Street (Nicolas) I last saw in "The Government Inspector" at the Lace Market Theatre. This role sees him in a very different role altogether. His previous role I had commented on his wonderful physical comedy; here you can feel the hurt, the terror in his voice. You can see a new physicality, one of dark depression, and his performance will break your heart. Plus he makes a very convincing seventeen year old.

Paul Spruce (Pierre) literally threw everything into the role, including throwing Louis to the floor in frustration. As with Louis, there's an awful lot of passion provided in this role. As a father myself, you think of how you'd react and the decisions to make if you found yourself in the same situation as Pierre. I sometimes feel that in volatile situations within theatre plays, the passion is often lacking, but not with these pair, I actually recoiled at one stage.

Ellen Woszatka (Anne) also provided very real passion along with many other emotions dealing with the issues with her "little sunbeam", as well impressing on her husband just how unwell her son is.

Alex Milligan (Sofia) succeeded in showing everyone her frustration being the woman in the middle. Her attempts to welcome Nicolas into their home and manage with Sofia and Pierre's newborn, plus dealing with the unannounced visits by Anne were all shown to full effect by Alex.

Gurmej Virk (Doctor) made me believe from his first appearance that he was a real life Doctor. His whole demeanour, the way he spoke to the parents and explained the pros and cons of the decision that they had to make, and the consequences of their choice just felt like you were a fly on the wall of a Doctor's practice. I believed in the Doctor.

Timothy Pollard (Nurse) brought an air of horror to the play on his second appearance due to the physical way he treated Nicolas in front of his parents. Between the Doctor and Nurse you started to doubt that this institution was the best place for Nicolas to get better.

Directed by Clare Choubey, she did a brilliant job of building the tension and storyline and the twist in this play came right out of the blue. Again, I recoiled in shock, only to be led into a false sense of security, followed by the reality of the situation. At this stage you are thinking again of your own parental status and the decision that you made in your mind regarding what you have just seen. Clare definitely provides a play that will give you something to think about.

It's not all darkness in "The Son" because there's sections that will make you smile, like the dancing scene, but don't get too comfortable.

Jim Brooks' Set Design is simple, especially being upstairs in the Studio. Everything that is needed is there.

The Lighting Design is by Nick Gale. Simple fading in and out to distinguish the change of scenes is all that is needed.

The Sound Design by Simon Carter, echoing the simplicity of the Lighting Design.

The sins of the father cast down to the son is a repeating theme, giving you another train of thought in this powerfully written piece of theatre. It is emotive, shocking and will challenge your idea of parenting and decision choice. It questions family issues and just how well you think you know your own children, as well as signs to look for where there's a possible mental illness issue. A piece of theatre that you could learn from, even if it is quite a difficult watch, but that is the joy of theatre.

Read the original article here.