Review - The Son - People's Theatre

The Son

People's Theatre

8th Sept, 2025

Written by Florian Zeller

(translated by Christopher Hampton)

Directed by Brian Green, Karen Elliot

The Son is the third in a trilogy of plays by French writer Florian Zeller.  I have not seen either of the other plays, and though I feel there would be some value in having seen all three; it may give some insight into the characters to have seen the other two plays but it is not essential - the The Son stands up on its own account. 

Nikolas, struggling with the disintegration of his family after his parents divorce, has been absent from school for months, he is withdrawn, moody, and uncommunicative. His mother, Anne, is at the end of her tether and seeks help from his estranged father, Pierre. Nikolas moves to live with Pierre and Sofia and their new baby. Sofia is wary of Nikolas, but both she and Pierre believe he is nothing more than a moody teenager. At first things seem to be going well, but it soon becomes clear that Nikolas' problems go much deeper. His mood swings increase and he clashes with his father and Sofia with catastrophic results.

Staged in the studio with a minimal set, this creates a very immediate experience for the audience - at times almost claustrophobic, we don't just witness the trauma that envelops this family, we live it, breathe it in. We are no more able to escape it than the characters themselves.  

The set mirrors the emotional state of the characters. Pierre and Sofia's home is bright, colourful, warm - everything that Nikolas' life is not. When Anne, comes to speak to Pierre about their son, the conversation takes place to the left of the stage where there are just two plain, grey chairs. Similarly when Nikolas goes to his mother after the argument with his father, these chairs represent Anne's home, and later the waiting room of the hospital is represented by these chairs. The contrast between this and Pierre and Sofia's home is stark. Their home represents everything that Nikolas feels he has lost - his home, his, family, and his sanity. 

The subject matter is painful, uncomfortable, unsettling, and yet compulsive. Jack Stuart's performance as Nikolas is painfully convincing, a brooding presence on the the stage throughout, with his glowering countenance and anxious ticks and twitches, as he struggles to communicate. Craig Fairbairn gives an equally telling performance as the father struggling to understand his son, desperate to help and crushed by his own inability to do so, haunted by the memory of his own father's neglect. Brooke Milburn as Anne, and Annie Cairns as Sofia give admirable supporting performances but I did feel that their characters lacked the depth given to the father and son.  

The is a difficult play to watch but the directors and cast have delivered a compelling, heartbreaking production.  

The Son plays until 13th September. 

                                    *Images: Paul Hood

Denise Sparrowhawk