What I liked
What stood out were the shifts in the father’s physical capabilities, combined with evocative lighting and coastal sounds—vastly different from the sharp, tit-for-tat exchanges between the two central characters. His suave mannerisms and recollections of carnal escapades in a Trinidad suspended in his memory offered a glimpse into who he was before, giving the feeling that this rosy view of his past was just a few shuffled steps away—with the assistance of his kids, of course.
What I didn't like
While the opening night performance occasionally revealed a slight mismatch in pacing between the two actors during their no-punches-pulled emotional confrontations, this can easily be attributed to the natural growing pains of an ongoing semi-repertory production as the cast locks in their onstage chemistry.
Ultimately, the production brings to mind Franz Kafka’s famous reflection to Oskar Pollak that art must be “the axe for the frozen sea inside us.” Ironically, Kafka himself had a famously strenuous relationship with his father, and though his own work went largely unnoticed during his lifetime, the same cannot be said for playwright Xander Priddie.
Interviewing for the Role of Father is a mind-blowing, gut-wrenching experience. Walking back outside, I still needed time to process the whirlwind of the final moments. In the stupefying odds of existence, we are all simultaneously bearing witness to an amazing display of the human condition formed of frailty and error. The emotional and physical strain the audience feels while inside this visceral catalyst is not a sign of fragile sentiment, but a jolting reminder that we are the lucky ones.
My overall impression
I really enjoyed the production; it brilliantly captures the intense friction and frustration of strenuous migrant parent-child relationships. The overall experience was a whiplash of emotions that, even after the show’s end, forces you to take a moment to remember that you are no longer in the mind of the writer, but back in your own mortal coil.
