The film "Father Trapped in Time" starring Anthony Hopkins at the age of 83 won the Oscar for Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay - this award-winning film brought attention to Alzheimer's disease. It is actually adapted from the play " father " which won the French Molière Drama Award in 2014. To date, multiple stage versions have been staged in 45 countries. Currently, the version starring Jin Shijie and Tian Shui will be unveiled at the Drama Center from July 27 to August 11.
The play shows an old man suffering from Alzheimer's disease. In the process of getting along with his daughter, he is constantly trapped in a time and space vortex where memory and reality intersect. By alternately showing the perspective of Alzheimer's patients and the perspective of patients' family members, it creates a sense of confusion with a suspenseful effect. As the unreasonable plot gradually advances, one can't help but wonder whether there is really someone secretly planning all this. What... The director of this version, Jiang Weiguo, analyzed that the logic, structure, and expression of the play are very different from previous scripts of the same type. Its "specialness" attracted many front and backstage staff to study it. The crew read the script very smoothly when they first read it. The six actors were fully prepared in advance. The emotions expressed in it moved the staff on the scene and made them cry. However, it is also a tragicomedy, with the actors' interesting and sad interpretations. The intertwined plots can arouse strong resonance among the audience.
Jin Shijie plays the father. As the first stage work to be co-operated with a mainland theater troupe, he said that the professionalism of the interviewer made him feel at ease: "The screenwriter is very cunning. He uses a 'confused' writing technique to try to present the audience with the picture in the patient's mind." In the play, Both father and daughter feel uncomfortable, but neither is wrong. The script explores not only the relationship between the two people before the hospital bed, but also the living conditions of a sick and twisted family. "Such a story is likely to happen in every family. It is both happy and cruel." Tian Shui revealed that he also had a similar experience with the protagonist, "I had to pick up the things I wanted to forget. It was very internal, but for me The creation is very helpful. Actors are like this. They know they are being tortured but when it is helpful to create a role, they will dive in without hesitation."
The play will be performed at the Shanghai Dramatic Art Center from July 27th to August 11th. After that, it will be performed at the National Center for the Performing Arts from August 15th to 18th. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhu Guang)
