A Play To Help Conversations and Understanding About Dementia

An actor sits in an armchair on a makeshift stage. People wander in, some elderly, many middle-aged and a few who look to be in their 20s. The actor, partly covered in a blanket, rocks slightly, staring at and wringing her hands. “Puh … puh …. puh,” she says. It’s Connie. This is no ordinary theatre. This is Newbury library at 7pm on a Wednesday. Some, oblivious to the waiting play, talk and exchange books. Most stay to watch the performance.

Emily, Connie’s daughter, appears when there’s a full audience of around 35 people. “Hi mum, it’s me,” she says. Kissing Connie on the head, she talks about her first TV cooking show and looks through a large book. “There’s a recipe of your rock cakes in here,” Emily says. “Here we are, Connie’s rock cakes … gosh 1987.” It’s Connie’s memory book. She has dementia.

The play, Connie’s Colander, follows Emily’s visit to her mother, a retired domestic science teacher who has Alzheimer’s. As they reminisce while Emily explains how she’s bringing her mother’s recipes to the show, we see how their relationship has evolved during Emily’s life and Connie’s illness.

When the play’s the thing to help us talk about Alzheimer’s