Directed by Irene Corbett | Designed by India Hyams | Performed by Sanaya Doctor

Alzheimer’s. noun.

1. A sort of dementia. Affects the memory, cognitive cohesion, and behaviour.
2. A family challenge.
3. Identity theft.
4. Isolating.
5. Beautiful.
6. Painful
7. Hilarious. Uncontrollably funny.
8. Uncontrollable memory loss and distortion.
9.  Uncontrollable madness.
10. Absence.

With its 2015 London debut Nicola Wilson’s Plaques and Tangles provided a desperately needed exploration of how families deal with dementia.

The University of Auckland Postgraduate Drama Programme’s 2018 production relocates the play to New Zealand, where the number of people living with dementia is expected to triple from 60,000 to 180,000 by 2050.

Directed by Irene Corbett, designed by India Hyams, and with the lead role of Megan performed by Sanaya Doctor, this production asks whether we should be searching for answers or empathy, for cure or community, and invites us to engage with dementia as a challenge to be shared.

It asks us to look not first at the disease, but at the person.