Two atheist sons of clergymen are on a quest to find out how we disagree with someone we love. Read more …
Our Fathers is a new play inspired by Father and Son, Edmund Gosse’s Victorian memoir about growing up in an evangelical Christian family. The book charts the gulf which emerged between book-loving Edmund and his father – a preacher and renowned scientist – as Edmund realised he couldn’t share his father’s beliefs.
When his own clergyman father suggested he should read the book, Nicholas Bone assumed it would reveal something about their own relationship. Rob Drummond, another son of a clergyman, is also looking for answers to a big question of his own.
Our Fathers feels like a catharsis for the participants, who at least were spared Gosse’s crushing legacy from his mother as a young boy, and could choose their own path in a different world, but it is disappointing as a piece of theatre.
What's left is a dramatic prayer that honours where both men have come from even as eternal questions remain.
The play itself is more of a piece of whimsy than a serious exploration; diverting but ultimately of little lasting significance.
Quiet, unimposing.
Fascinating.
If, at times, the piece (beautifully designed and lit by Karen Tennent and Simon Wilkinson) has the air of work that could be further expanded upon, Bone and Drummond at least offer moving insights into parent-child relationships that will ring bells with most audiences.
Our Fathers is an interesting piece of theatre though, well thought out and presented, posing some pertinent questions about relationships. The ending in particular is moving, touching and sends us away with a satisfying sense of resolution.
It’s an entertaining 70-odd minutes, but there’s no real emotional or philosophical punch; dramatically-speaking, the conflict between belief and paternal relationships remains sadly unresolved.
Has its heart in the right place.
A lovely musical score by Scott Twynholm and charming, museum-style design by Karen Tennent (beautifully lit by Simon Wilkinson) lend the show an aesthetic quality that is lacking in an otherwise uncertain, halting production.
The ending may be ambivalent, but it’s deeply heartfelt.
Traverse Theatre announces first collaboration with Magnetic North
Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh from Saturday October 21, 2017, until Saturday October 28, 2017. More info: www.traverse.co.uk
Tron Theatre, Glasgow from Wednesday November 1, 2017, until Saturday November 4, 2017. More info: www.tron.co.uk
On Tour, from Wednesday November 8, 2017, until Saturday November 18, 2017.
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