August Strindberg's notorious drama from 1890 was his response to the most famous gender drama of the day, Ibsen's A Doll's House and charts the explosive power-struggle between a married couple.

This new version by Laurie Slade makes the The Father an uncompromising and psychologically astute portrayal of the battle of the sexes in a 19th-century middle-class marriage, with surprising insights into issues such as gender, the meaning of marriage, parental attitudes to child education, and the conflicts between science and religion.

This production was originally staged at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry with award-winning actors Joe Dixon and Katy Stephens as the Captain and his wife Laura.

An uneasy stand-off exists between an army Captain and his wife. A disagreement over the future of their daughter Bertha triggers an all-out war. Laura will stop at nothing to gain control of her daughter's education and when she suggests to the Captain that he may not actually be the girl's father at all, she sets a chain of events in motion, from which nobody escapes unharmed.

A Unique Production for BBC Radio 3. Show less