Ailing father jogs family memory

Play examines the heartbreaking decisions a daughter must make, a dilemma actress fully understands, Chen Nan reports.

In the rehearsal room, where the boundaries between reality and performance blur, veteran actress Tian Shui grapples with an intense personal struggle that she had never experienced before.

It was a day in July when Tian was in rehearsals for the Chinese stage adaptation of Le Pere (The Father), the award-winning work of one of France's most popular young playwrights, Florian Zeller.

Le Pere is the winner of the 2014 Moliere Award for Best Play. A film by the same name, which was adapted and directed by Zeller himself, gained six Oscar nominations in 2021 and won in Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor categories.

The role she plays is Anne, a middle-aged woman whose father, Anthony, suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Reality gradually dissolves in the father's mind, creating many problems between the father and the daughter. Shouldering filial love and responsibility to her family, Anne is under tremendous pressure. She is forced to make an "appropriate" decision — whether to take care of her father or send him to hospital.

This role resonates deeply with Tian because she lost her own mother to the same debilitating illness last year. As Tian steps into the character's shoes, she is compelled to relive the pain and sadness she has worked so hard to overcome.