By David Eldridge

Based on the Dogme film and play by Thomas Vinterberg, Mogens Rukov and Bo hr. Hansen
Directed by Helen Trenos

Helge the patriarch of the Hansen family is turning sixty. It should be a time of celebration (festen). A time for family and friends to gather and ‘smooth over the cracks left by the suicide of Linda, twin sister to Christian’. Helge’s eldest son, Christian raises the first toast. What he will say is shocking. ‘Confined within the family house, the guests are rocked by his revelations that pierce and destroy the veneer of middle-class respectability’.

The characters in the play in this production of Festen have big feelings and big secrets and there are extremely high stakes. Director, Helen Trenos says the audience can expect “detailed, truthful and strong ensemble acting.”

Although first staged in 2004, Festen’s theme of the cover up of abuse, shamefully, still resonates today.