Alex Ferns and Emily Dobbs lead the cast of Laurie Slade’s new version of August Strindberg’s The Father at the Trafalgar Studios.

A psychologically astute portrayal of gender roles, attitudes to marriage and the battle between science and religion, The Father follows a captain and his wife as an all-out war is triggered over a disagreement about their daughter’s future. Laura will stop at nothing to take control of her child’s future and when she suggests to the captain that he may not be the girl’s father it sets in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped.

Former EastEnders actor Ferns, who was last seen on the London stage in True West at the Tricycle Theatre, plays the Captain alongside Dobbs (The Seagull, Southwark Playhouse) as his wife Laura.

They’re joined in the cast by June Watson (Mrs Lowry & Son, Trafalgar Studio 2), Thomas Coombes (The Merchant Of Venice, Shakespeare’s Globe) and Barnaby Sax (Serious Money, Royal Court).