In The Father, we meet André and a brief resume of his life is quickly sketched out. He lives in a Paris apartment with his daughter Anne and her husband. He is a retired dancer.

Or is he a retired engineer and Anne has just come for a visit with her boyfriend? Rather than several people remembering events differently, André himself shifts his own realities. As his dementia continues, his life is frustrating not only for himself, but for the people who love and surround him.

Acclaimed French playwright and director Florian Zeller wrote the script which won the Molière Award for Best Play in 2014 and its movie version — written and directed by Zeller — won an Oscar in 2021 for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Now the one-act play, which has been characterized as "a tragic farce" is coming to Houston courtesy of 4th Wall Theatre. Elizabeth Bunch, a member of the Alley Theatre's Resident Acting Company, directs the six person cast which includes Kevin Cooney ( André), Orlando Arriaga (Pierre), Julia Krohn (Woman), Danny Hayes (Man), Lien Le (Laura) and Founding Resident Artist Kim Tobin-Lehl (Anne).

"This is the kind of story I am most drawn to. It's a human driven story because of the innovation and the playwriting not told in a linear story," said Bunch who has been exercising her directing skills more and more lately.

"I have directed smaller projects before I came to Houston. I assisted at the Alley a couple of times. I directed at UH last year, at UH this year and it sort of occurred to me at the last possible moment last year when I was doing Circle Mirror Transformation, 'I should invite 4th Wall  to come see this.' Because we've talked for a long time about doing something together so this was really a long time coming collaboration. It worked out to come and do it this year."

Asked why she wanted to direct this particular play, Bunch said:  "This is the kind of story that I am most drawn to in terms of it's a human-driven story. Also because of the innovation in the playwriting it provides as a director something really juicy to sink your teeth into because it's not told in a linear story.

"I get to work with actors.  I get to play with story telling in a more creative way than maybe your traditional American drama. I have said for a long time when people are learning to direct you might work as an assistant or work under somebody so you're in a rehearsal room watching how somebody works. But now that I’ve hit more than 00 professional productions that's how many times I've been in a rehearsal room watching a director work.

"I’ve had this great vantage point to see what’s super effective and different approaches to the work and different approaches to actors so it's been something I really want to put into practice for myself. And this was a great opportunity and a great play to do that."

Tobin-Lehl  saw the play in Dublin while on vacation with her husband 4th Wall Artistic Director Philip Lehl when it was a brand new play. "We didn't know anything about it. It was in the Dublin Theatre Festival and we were just blown away. It was structurally not like any play we’d ever seen," she said.

It was three or four years later when she and her husband realized no one had done the play in the Houston area and they couldn't understand why.  "So we decided to put it on the list and grab it," Tobin-Lehl said.

"I'm playing the daughter. The play is about a man with the progression of dementia.  The play for the most part is from the point of view of the person with dementia. You might find yourself questioning the reliability of your narrator."

Tobin-Lehl found the most challenging part of playing the role was navigating the progression of the relationship with the father. "When you're an actor, generally an arc for an actor is pretty straightforward. In this play I end here. That's not as simple in this play.  The structure is much more like going through a maze. It's less like going over a mountain."

As Anne, Tobin-Lehl said, "A lot of times I have to stop and be confused and let myself be confused." That confusion will probably extend to the audience, both say.

"It’s a play about an actualization rather than an understanding of what someone else could be going through," Bunch said. "Because  the structure of the play not only leaves you with doubts about the narrator but doubts as an audience member about what you've seen about what is true and not true. That ultimately you have to understand the play with your heart instead of your mind."

There are also "extremely personal beautiful loving moments in it that make you understand the importance and value of family and why it's so important that we stay connected to each other, Tobin-Lehl said.

Both made note of the set which Bunch said almost becomes another actor in the play. Much as the characters change so does the set, although it all takes place in the same location. Ryan McGettigan is the production designer who looked into illusion art for this particular production, Bunch said.

Any prospective audience members' worries that the subject is too heavy be relieved to know there is humor throughout the play. "The humor that exists in the play is the way we laugh at something that happens in our own lives, not a theatrical comedy," Bunch said.

"Just because topics feel weighty it doesn't mean that this isn't exciting," Bunch said. "This is an engaging play. It's is not a play that preaches to you. It's not a play that's just trying to get you in your emotions . It's not a sob story.

"Our hope when you leave the play is that you will have more than empathy for caregivers or for someone who is living with dementia , something deeper than empathy; that you've had an actual experience. which is the kind of theater that's the most exciting to me. We want you to feel something not just think something," Bunch said.

Tobin-Lehl said the play almost feels like a mystery. Bunch echoed that saying "It’s like you’re a character in the play because you’re learning at the same same as everyone on stage is learning."

Performances are scheduled for April 26 through May 11 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays and 7:30 p.m. Monday at Spring Street Studio, 1824 Spring Street, Studio 101. For more information, call 832-767-4991 or visit [email protected]. $25-$60. Monday, May 6: Pay What You Can.