Festen
Clwyd Theatr Cymru
FESTEN is dark, brooding, disturbing and unforgettable… Festen festers then explodes, leaving its audience emotionally exhausted.
From the very opening moments there is a sense of foreboding.
At his large country home Helge, a successful restaurateur, is surrounded by his wife Else, their close-knit family - Christian, Helene and Michael - friends and household staff as they prepare to celebrate his 60th birthday with a formal dinner.
But the dinner is overshadowed by the recent funeral of the other adult child Linda.
And there is tension in the air and when Christian, the eldest son, rises to propose the first toast and makes a devastating accusation against his father.
As the party continues, relationships are changed forever in a gripping psychological drama which exposes a family's darkest secrets.
Dramatic devices are used with carefully executed precision.
One bedroom scene, where three scenes are played out simultaneously in the same room, is riveting and quite mesmerising.
Festen is provocative and moving.
Years of hidden and denied abuse and overt prejudices, plague and enlighten.
In a way, the theme of the sexual abuse is both central to Festen, yet also incidental.
For while attending the family party, the partygoers are privy to the explosion of information, while at the same time wrapped up in their own problems.
There are no stars in Festen, just wonderful players.
Lee Haven-Jones brilliantly plays the psychologically troubled and abused Christian.
Alex Parry is remarkable and shocking in his portrayal of the younger misogynistic brother Michael, and Liz May Brice counterfoils superbly as their surviving sister Helene.
Michael Geary is superb as the foppish Poul while Dyfrig Morris and Eleanor Howell shine in their complex roles as household staff.
The company also includes BAFTA Cymru award-winner Ifan Huw Dafydd as the magnificent and barbarous Helge.
Tim Baker brilliantly directs this award-winning West End stage hit.
Catch a glimpse of Festen now but prepare to be disturbed.